Legend 2012: Occult Ascendancy
by fleets
Summary: Sequel to Legend 2010: Avilux Ignis. It's 2012, and Vaati is back with all his arrogance. But just as he thought his life was going to be easy again, a past enemy approaches him for a deal. Things get complicated when the government gets involved.
1. The Fool and The Wheel

fleets: I SAID I WOULDN'T. I think exam stress is limiting my patience towards boring things (like studying) so even though I said I was going to wait until break to even look at this, I decided to submit this anyway. Don't worry, I'm still going to go through with the poll vote and focus on Rend, but Rend just had a new chapter only a few days ago. And this wait was killing me guys! DX

Welcome to the sequel of Legend 2010: Avilux Ignis! If you have not read that story, I assure you that you will be very confused by some things and will have a few wtf moments. If you've read the preview on deviantart, then you might recognize the last portion (but I changed some things so it's not completely the same).

Disclaimer: I will try my best not to include real-life people as that is against the rules of this website. I also do not own (or have anything against) The Legend of Zelda, The Major Arcana, Google, "howtogetridofstuff dot com," Youtube, Santa, Microsoft, and Nintendo. I do claim rights to OCs in this story including but not limited to Dugal, Talon Three, and Thistle and Thyme. And I _do not_ personally endorse the ideas that some of the characters in this story have about several moral issues. They're assholes, not people to look up to.

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Fool and The Wheel**

"Cards again? I don't even know why you bother. You know that tarot reading is bogus."

"But it's precisely _because_ it's bogus that I'm reading tarot cards now."

"Care to explain?"

"I have to be able to come up with elaborate interpretations on the spot. You know the people love it when we tell them what they want to hear in fancy ways."

"Is that why you also have a timer next to you? To see how fast you can come up with your garbage?"

"I can't hesitate my bullshit stories now, can I? The key is to be confident."

"You sound like a politician."

"Oh, what a cynic. And it's funny you should say that."

"So who's fortune are you reading anyways?"

"Yours."

"Oh very funny. I don't remember giving you permission to nose around my future."

"If it's phony, what are you so worried about, Thyme? It's just as much a crapshoot if I said I was reading the fortune of that fat bloke over there, right?"

"Sometimes, Thistle, you're so good at coming up with bogus fortunes that they turn out to be true… it's unsettling."

"Pah, don't flatter me so."

"That's also my way of saying you're creepy."

"Since when did you become so disrespectful?"

"You probably rubbed off on me."

"I have such a good influence on people…"

"So… are you going to read the cards?"

"Mmm? Ah yes. I was just getting to that. And you know what? I changed my mind. I'm not going to read your fortune. I'm going to read mine."

"Yours? Why?"

"Just feeling a little vain today."

XXXXXXXXXX

Two years after that fateful day of running into Link at Burger King, Vaati felt that his life was finally back to normal again. The smell of that abomination he called "greasy death," also known as pizza, hit his nose a block before he reached his home. Like any other day he ignored Grandpa Loze, now nicknamed "Ezlo the old man," who found something to yell at him as he sauntered up the steps to his room. He threw his backpack towards his bed, twirled his wrists to stop it in midair with magic, and then warped into his chair while a floating pen clicked open his laptop and turned it on.

For the most part, regaining his magic had made him the lazier version of Gale Engst. He also had one of the worst cases of senioritis at high school because he felt it was all pointless after he had regained most of his memories: he already knew the stuff they studied after already going through a few lifetimes as a highschooler. Vaati yawned and rested his chin on his hands, bored, as he surfed the internet. It was cold today, meaning he didn't feel like taking a trip to the Palace of Winds to snoop around like he did when the weather was nice.

There was a reason he returned to his old palace as much as he could. Thousands of years ago, he had foolishly wished for reincarnation, thinking it would allow him to live forever. By a spell he had devised based off of the reincarnating abilities of the Triforce holders, he had succeeded but with one troublesome caveat: he would lose all of his memories every time he died. There was a possibility that his old Palace, the place where he had cursed himself, held clues on fixing the memory dilemma.

Vaati aimlessly typed in a search and his pale fingers clicked the keys monotonously. Over three hundred thousand results popped up for "get rid of curses."

_A lot of complicated shit happened – as Gale would say,_ Vaati thought sullenly as he peered at the links offered by Google. _And now I have all my memories back, but what good is it if I go back to that cycle of being an ignorant fool for another couple millennia? I don't want to go through that again!_ He frowned, remembering that uncomfortable feeling of going through an entire lifetime as though he were forgetting something important.

Vaati sniffed as he read a dubious entry from "howtogetridofstuff dot com" that advised him that he should get rid of the source to remove a curse.

_Yeah, that's REAL helpful. I just have to get rid of myself and everything will be bloody well, will it?_

Too bad even this new, wonderful thing in his current era called "Google" couldn't help him. So much for being the most omniscient resource in the planet.

Pale bangs cascaded over the right half of his face, hiding his red eye as he procrastinated on Youtube. Fifteen minutes later, he heard someone come in downstairs followed by Loze's snappish yelling.

An equally annoyed voice of a male teen answered hurriedly while it moved up the stairs. "Hey, chill out Gramps, just let me relax for a few hours and _then_ I'll do your chores. I just came back from school!"

"I'm not feeding and housing you for free, boy! Come down here and clean the dishes!"

"Hff."

Vaati looked up and saw a raven-haired teen stride past his room while rolling his eyes. He heard the sound of a jacket being flung against the wall and a loud sigh. Then, footsteps pattered over to the living room and there were a few grunts as the teen made himself comfortable on the couch. A small "blink" of a consol being turned on caught Vaati's ears.

"Hey Dark," he drawled, staring pointlessly at a video of a cat being squeezed into a shirtsleeve, "he wants you to do chores."

"Fuck you," came the reply. The response garnered a grin from the sorcerer. Dark was technically the incarnation of Link in this era, but because of a few technicalities, he wasn't the vomit-inducingly good personality that Vaati had repeatedly fought in his past.

The sorcerer snapped his fingers. Across the hall in the living room where Dark was in, there was a loud thud of something heavy falling onto something. An angry yell was heard, and within a few seconds Dark was in Vaati's room and slamming a textbook onto the floor.

"Yes?" Vaati smiled innocently as Dark adjusted his black skullcap with a 'Detona' bomb design.

"You dropped this on my head." Dark pointed at the textbook with a glower.

"How? I was here the whole time."

"You used magic, you bastard," Dark said sourly. "And I also don't understand why you always warp back without me when we live in the same house. I could save fifteen minutes of riding on the bus and walking here from school."

Vaati grinned wider. "Magic? I don't know what you're talking about."

"Boys! Get down here and help clean the dishes!"

Vaati leaned back on his chair to look out his door where Loze's voice came from. Sighing, he muttered something under his breath and twirled his wrists. There was a weird clattering noise along with running water.

"BOYS! If you don't come down this minute neither of you will get dinner!"

"I already did the dishes, old man! We're done with chores."

There was a pause, and then a frantic shuffling as Grandpa Loze went to check to see if the chores had been done. After some time, Loze's gruff voice shouted back again. "You left a huge puddle and everything's a mess, Gale!"

Vaati shrugged while he grinned at Dark. "But they're clean, right?"

There was some grumbling in answer, and when Loze didn't reply Vaati smiled cheerfully at the other boy who was shaking his head in exasperation. "Guess no more chores then."

Dark trudged off back to the living room with a disapproving air. "Sometimes I wish you never got your magic back. It's not fair."

"Thank your counterpart from the past for that."

Dark mumbled something. He went back to playing a videogame.

XXXXXXXXXX

"How interesting…"

"Yeah… that's not how you usually read tarot cards. You never look at the cards and pick out the ones you like."

"No, no! That's not what I meant by interesting!"

"At the same time, your way of tarot reading is… unique, shall we say?"

"But it's more accurate this way."

"I swear, you're impossible…"

"Clearly you do not understand the subtleties of natural Force."

"Why the change in card reading? You usually follow protocol."

"Because I _usually_ do fake tarot reading."

"And you're saying this is real?"

"Mmm, no. I just felt like it. It's my own fortune I'm reading – I can do whatever the hell I want."

"Well? What does your future hold? You're just going to pick out all of the good cards, aren't you?"

"No, that's not fortune reading at all. You really don't understand how this works, do you?"

"Uh, no. Because we've already established that tarot reading is bogus and therefore there's nothing to understand."

"And besides, do I look like someone who enjoys stroking his own ego?"

"Do you really want me to answer that honestly?"

"Hmph! I don't have to flatter myself or surround myself with positive illusions, thank you. I am… A Pessimist!"

"That sounds depressing."

"I'm also a realist."

"I see."

"And I'm usually right about things. So people should listen to me."

"Uh huh. Soooo, what's your fortune?"

"It's looking pretty awful."

"Awful? You gave yourself an awful fortune?"

"Kekekeke, this is exciting! I knew this deck was going to be good."

"So tell me. You're losing me here with your eccentricities."

XXXXXXXXXXX

"We have the X-box and you're playing on the _Gamecube?_"

Dark ignored the disbelieving voice filled with disgust and contempt. On the television screen, there were four different colored characters moving through a grassy area in a neat formation. Each one had a shield and a sword, and they were wearing pointed hats. Dark pressed a few buttons on the purple controller, making all four characters attack a rock-shooting enemy with their sword. It dropped a small red heart upon defeat.

"I had this consol when I was in Japan. I brought it here when I moved, and it's also my favorite system" Dark explained after several long awkward minutes of silence. Vaati had become completely quiet, and it unnerved him more than when the sorcerer was loud. Finally, Dark took a loud breath and held up a second controller. "What, do you want to play or something?"

"Th-th-that's him!" Vaati managed to stutter. He was wide-eyed in shock.

Dark scrunched his brows. "Who?"

"Him, you imbecile!" Vaati snapped. He waved his arms wildly to demonstrate.

Dark didn't get it. "_Who?_"

Vaati snarled something incoherent in frustration. Then, he exclaimed, "Link! That unforgiveable thorn in my side!"

"Oh." Dark went back to looking at the screen.

"Oh? _Oh?_ Is that your only response?"

Dark waved him away, continuing the game. The four Links jumped off a small ledge to enter a new area. "Jeez, calm down. This game is based off of the old myths that, according to you, actually happened. This is probably one of Link's adventures or something."

Vaati scrutinized the game that Dark was playing with narrowed eyes. As Gale, he had never taken an interest in the Nintendo games, dismissing them as less superior than the other systems. Actually, something about them had rubbed him the wrong way so he had immediately taken a dislike towards them. He had a hunch that this game named after _her_, the Legend of Zelda, had something to do with his irritation. Maybe his mind had innately registered what the game would be about and therefore made him avoid interest in it all this time.

Now he was watching Dark go through a quest that looked suspiciously familiar.

"Oh yeah. You're mentioned here by the way."

The sorcerer's ears twitched. "What?"

Dark snickered as he let the Links blow up a cracked wall with bombs. "You're in the game, buddy. You're a huge ugly flying eyeball who kidnapped a bunch of shrine maidens."

"_What?_"

"I'm just about to steal them back from right under your evil nose."

Vaati scowled. This was no doubt based on his final and most humiliating attempt to take over Hyrule. He glared at the second controller that was sitting on top of the couch. "Is there a multiplayer option in this?" Vaati demanded.

Dark gave him a long look. "You want to play now? After you dissed the Gamecube so much?"

"Is there multiplayer. Or. Not?"

Dark hitched his shoulders. "Yeah sure."

Vaati snatched the controller and jumped into the air. He levitated into the air with his legs crossed and his shoulders hunched over intensely. His face was taut in concentration.

"Uh, I think you're way too serious about this. It's only a game, you know?"

The sorcerer scoffed and pressed the 'A' button to confirm player two. "This is _not_ just a game," he growled. "I'm going to do a little check on historical accuracy."

XXXXXXXXXXX

"The first card is _The Fool_. A new beginning is ahead; something wondrous and intriguing. Something that will change the way we see the world, that is _The Wheel of Fortune._ Ah, and here are the players in this story…"

"_The Magician_?"

"There is someone skilled and powerful, with a willingness to take risks. This is a dangerous individual indeed, but is accompanied by his other, _The Reversed Magician_. Equally skilled and equally competent, but together there is poor cooperation."

"Do you represent _The Magician_?"

"Perhaps, perhaps not. Time will tell. Oh ho. _The Reversed Emperor_ is the fifth card. A formidable obstacle stands in the way of _The Magician_. How ominous, how ominous."

"Why are you picking out all the bad cards for your fortune?"

"There's a method to my madness: this is a fortune. I can't control my fortune."

"But you're the one who's picking them…"

"I said I'm reading a fortune and therefore have no control! Even as I look through this deck in my hands and move my fingers to pick out this card, I have no control!"

"Well, If it weren't for that completely serious look on your face, I would've suspected you were making fun of me."

"Make fun of you? I would never do that."

"Then again, you're wearing a mask that keeps your expression serious all the time, so I wouldn't be able to tell if you were laughing at me."

"Did you ever believe in Santa?"

"What's this all of a sudden?"

"You don't trust mystical things, so you must have had a deprived childhood. I feel sorry for you."

"…"

"Just so you know I don't believe in Santa."

"I see... Uh. Well. So what's the next card before you go on another weird tangent?"

"Right. Ohhh intriguing. The obstacle takes the form of _The Devil_. Cunning evil. And how interesting! Someone will abuse their authority in a terrible way."

"You sound too happy about that."

"It's interesting is all. Ah, and here is the warning; the card of_ The Moon_. There is trickery ahead. _The Magician _and his other will fall from grace, disregarding peers and becoming filled with envy and avarice. They will do well to guard against overwhelming ambitions."

"Next is _The Tower_. You're on a roll for picking all of the nasty cards."

"_The Tower_ represents disruption. There will be conflict. The life that _The Magician_ knows will be overthrown or even ruined. There are two possible outcomes of this change, and they're not mutually exclusive, mind you: achievement of great and glorious things represented by _The World_, or –"

"…_Death?_"

"Yes. The loss of everything. Abrupt, complete change. That is the card of _Death_."

* * *

fleets: Sooo how is it so far? Granted I've only just begun and nothing's actually happened yet :P


	2. The Two Magicians

fleets: What madness is this? Three story chapters (oa, rend, oa) within the scope of 2 DAYS?  
... The Phantom hourglass. I must be using it without knowing about it. Otherwise how would I have been able to write so much in such a short period of time?

* * *

**Chapter 2: The Two Magicians**

_The Magician and The Reversed Magician:_

There is someone skilled and powerful, with a willingness to take risks. This is a dangerous individual indeed, but is accompanied by his other, _The Reversed Magician_. Equally skilled and equally competent, but together there is poor cooperation.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Vaati yawned loudly as he walked out of class with Dark. He reached into his pocket for his cell phone and checked the time. "The day's only half over," he muttered. He rubbed his eyes and stuffed his hands into his maroon jacket. "That stupid game of yours – I'm so tired."

"We might've played a little too much," Dark agreed tiredly. They had gone late into the night playing Four Swords Adventures. It had quickly become a game of wits when Vaati found ways to sabotage Dark's progress. Needless to say, even with all the hours of playing they didn't get very far. "It's all your fault. You didn't try to help a single puzzle and placed bombs in the worst possible places."

Vaati sniffed. "Like I said, historical accuracy. I'll be damned if I believe those four were perfect at solving everything I threw at them. Besides, all of those monsters were too weak to be realistic."

"And then you'd push me into pitfalls until I get a game over and we'd have to start from the beginning."

The sorcerer shrugged.

"Let's also not forget the fact that I had to make sure you didn't go and kill yourself, because you seemed to find it funny to watch your Link jump off cliffs and die."

"You know that yell he makes right before he dies? If there's anything they got right it's that."

"To top it all off, right when we were actually close to finishing the level, you'd somehow manage to unplug your link cable so you'd get a game over. And then we'd have to start over _for the hundred billionth time_."

"See, the game sucks."

"It's not the best, I agree," Dark growled, "but you actually managed to make the experience worse than Zelda CD-i."

"Another one of those _Zelda_ games, hmm? They can all rot in the bottom of the ocean for spreading vile lies for all I care."

"You're just bitter the whole point of the game is to ruin your plans."

Vaati whirled around. "Think of it this way," he said, leaning lazily against a wall. "Let's say I decided to make a videogame right now about the Holocaust where your goal is to be the most efficient concentration camp in the country. How do you think that will make people feel?" He turned and began to walk down the hall again. "Not good, right? Same thing."

"It's not the same thing because these games are based on myths!"

"But they actually happened," Vaati stated stubbornly.

"No one knows that but you." Dark rolled his eyes. "Find yourself a ladder and get over it."

Avoiding the bustling students gathered by the locker area, Dark squeezed his way towards his locker to grab his bagged lunch while Vaati waited for him. With a half-bitten sandwich in his hand, Dark nodded to Vaati. "Going out for lunch?" he asked. Dark didn't like either cafeteria food or fast food so he packed his own lunch from home. It was a very Japanese thing to do, and Vaati figured he had picked it up from his time there.

"Yeah. You want anything?"

The edgier Link shook his head. "Nah."

"Alright. See ya."

Instead of walking towards the cafeteria like the rest of the students, Vaati headed straight for the men's room and walked into one of the stalls. Making sure no one noticed him, he shut the door and muttered a spell under his breath. In the blink of an eye, Vaati had vanished into thin air.

XXXXXXXXX

The repugnant smell of garbage hit his nose as Vaati teleported next to the dumpsters behind the local Burger King. Before he had remembered how to use magic, he needed to make his way over on foot. Now he could go anywhere in an instant, and it was up to him whether or not he wanted to be late for class or impeccably on time. He usually varied his lateness, as he didn't want anyone becoming suspicious. No need to spread the gossip more than he had to.

Vaati strode to the front of the building as though nothing was odd about a person appearing out of the blue next to the dumpsters. It was a known trick that if you were confident enough, people rarely thought there was something odd about you: this was all too easy for the sorcerer since confidence was something Vaati had in abundance.

Vaati walked up to the register and placed his order.

"I would like to have a Whopper with a medium soda please."

"Is that all?"

"Ye-" Vaati hesitated. The woman at the register waited for him expectantly while wondering what was wrong. The sorcerer frowned, and continued. "Yes please…" he said slowly while his red eyes began to move around the room suspiciously.

"That will be $4.97."

Vaati paid for his food and he moved off to the side to wait for the order. Tensing, a sense of wariness overcame him along with a feeling of déjà vu. He had a strange, uncomfortable feeling like the one he had experienced when he had first met Link here almost exactly two years ago.

It was as though someone was watching him, and it was someone he didn't particularly like.

That was when his eyes met a pair of hazel ones behind a set of black-rimmed glasses that narrowed slightly when the sorcerer finally noticed them. Vaati froze, and a sense of dread loomed over him.

The other man was none other than the former leader of Talon Three, and he was ridiculously out of place in his expensive suit as he sat eating French fries while staring at Vaati with curiosity. Grinning, Halstead Dugal silently pointed at Vaati's order that had arrived.

Snatching his food with more force than necessary, Vaati was about to strut out of the building when a smooth voice stopped him. "Mr. Engst, a surprise to see you here," Dugal said with a laugh, not sounding too surprised at all. "Care to have a quick chat?"

"I need to go back to class," Vaati replied curtly.

Dugal checked his watch. "Well, this is your lunch break, correct? I thought class didn't start for another forty-five minutes. We have plenty of time."

_What the freak, he knows my schedule? _Vaati thought. Then, _But of course he would know my schedule._

Vaati slowly and resentfully made his way over to the table Dugal was sitting at. He dropped the paper bag onto the table, scattering a few fries. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared unpleasantly. "What is it now? What more do you want?"

"Nothing, Mr. Engst. We happened to meet on pure chance alone," the other man shrugged amiably. "I got sick and tired of McDonalds so I came here instead. This place has wonderful fries."

_Lies. You were trailing me._ Instead, Vaati gave the other man a flat look that clearly stated he didn't appreciate having to talk to him. "I hate their fries."

"Ah, to each his own." Dugal slid his food to the side of the table and cleared the area in front of him, careful not to stain any part of his suit. He picked up a fry and turned it between his fingers – his eyes suddenly took on a fishy glint. "Speaking of fries," the man mentioned casually, "do you know any way to avoid being fried by magical fire?"

Vaati stood up abruptly. "That's it, I'm leaving." He fumed when a powerful grip closed around his wrist, preventing him from leaving. It was Dugal's bionic arm, and it was like being restrained by hand cuffs.

"Sit down, Mr. Engst. Listen for a while before you decide you want to leave." Dugal was smiling cheerfully, but it was anything other than friendly. Eyes narrowed venomously, Vaati complied. He sat back down and ignored his food that was becoming cold.

"Just skip the bullshit and get to the point."

An equally dangerous expression appeared fleetingly on Dugal's face. "Indeed. I will get straight to the point." He adjusted his glasses and straightened his tie. "There's a temple I would like to explore that's as curious as your palace. I will relinquish thirty percent of whatever we find should you decide to help me." The man watched him carefully over the rim of his glasses. "Intrigued?"

The sorcerer scoffed. "You'll have to tell me more than that if I'm going to make any decisions."

"Hn. Though that's prudent of you, I can't risk divulging more until I have your complete cooperation." Dugal tapped his gloved hand on the table, making faint whirring noises as the machinery in his fake arm adjusted itself. "This venture is, ah, sensitive. I'm merely asking if you're interested or not. If you want nothing to do with me at all, then I can end this conversation right now and I can promise you that you won't hear about this from me ever again."

The sorcerer waved his hand skeptically at the general area. "If it's so sensitive, why do you want to discuss this in such a public place?"

"This is less suspicious than if I set up a meeting with you. Besides, the ambient noise is too loud for anyone to be able to eavesdrop easily, and the reception will be especially annoying if someone were to try and use a small microphone to listen."

"Huh." Vaati looked around. What Dugal said was true. Then, he smiled quite nastily. "Someone's on the tail of the 'untraceable Dugal', hmm?"

A faint glimmer of malice flashed behind the black glasses. "Careful with your questions, Mr. Engst."

For some reason, seeing the pretentious Dugal agitated over his comment filled Vaati with immense pleasure. No doubt he had struck a nerve, and probably on something that the man was having trouble with.

Irritably, Dugal snapped, "So what will it be? Should I leave?"

_Yes you should. And while you're at it, please fly yourself to the moon and stay there until humanity disappears._

… At least that's what Vaati had wanted to say. He wanted to see that smug expression crushed in little pieces, but at the same time this offer was something to consider. The fact that Dugal, with all of his resources at his disposal, was coming to _him_ for help indicated that this temple was magical in nature.

A magical temple.

Vaati the Sorcerer of Winds was currently the world leader and greatest power regarding the magical arts, and he planned to stay that way. He was also the world's only sorcerer as far as he was aware. He wasn't too keen on letting someone like Dugal get his hands on magical artifacts, especially after he had seen what the man had learned while at the Palace of Winds.

Also, seeing how the bastard had somehow survived the plane crash he should have died in, Vaati suspected there was a possibility that Dugal had found other things than what he had revealed during the fight at the palace.

Basically, the bottom line was that it would be a bad idea to let Dugal have the opportunity to figure out the secrets of this temple alone.

_But wait. Not so fast, _Vaati's brows scrunched together as he debated in his head. _He needs my help, and he won't be able to get it anyway if I don't help him, right? If I refuse his endeavors end here._

Except…

Except regarding the Avilux I incident that had happened two years ago, some idiot might be able to figure out how to gain access to the temple anyway. It might take more time without Vaati's help, but who was he to say that no one would be able to take its secrets? _Whew, I was about to let my arrogance be my downfall again. _

Making up his mind, he raised his head and met the other man eye to eye. "I'm interested." _And besides, maybe this will be a good opportunity to find something that would let me solve the reincarnation problem,_ he added to himself.

Dugal's sneer broadened. "Perfe-"

"BUT," Vaati stopped him with a raised finger. This time, the sorcerer's grin grew wider while Dugal's began to dip. "You need my help. I take eighty-five percent of the shares."

Dugal stiffened. "You don't really expect to make deals with _me_."

"Oh but I do. You'll soon find out I'm more significant than you think I am, _Mr. _Dugal."

"Don't get cheeky with me. Thirty-five."

"Seventy."

"Forty and final."

"Sixty-five and final."

"… You don't seem to understand the concept of the word 'final.'" Dugal said thinly, betraying his calm exterior.

Vaati only grinned wider. "Neither do you, if you don't agree to my offer. You need my help more than I need yours."

Dugal glowered for a moment, not enjoying being placed in a position of defeat. Once he came to terms, he resumed his cheerful façade. "Deal." He reached over the table with his gloved hand, prompting Vaati to shake it.

The sorcerer should have known that the gloved hand was the fake one.

The metal skeleton squeezed the life out of his hand. Wrenching it away, Vaati scowled. "A damn firm handshake you have there."

Dugal's smile was like a snake's. "Sorry I'm still not used to this arm," he chuckled, feigning innocence.

"Hff." Vaati rubbed his hand where there was still a small throbbing pain. _This is going to be one hellish partnership._ The sorcerer stood up to leave. "So how am I going to get in touch with you?"

"You won't. I will," was the curt reply. Dugal handed him a phone. "Have this with you, but don't use it for anything besides answering calls."

Vaati pocketed the small black cell phone into his jacket pocket. Reaching over for his lunch that was now gross from cooling to unsalvageable temperatures, he nodded one last time. "Anything else?"

Relaxing now that the exchange was done, Dugal lounged across the booth seat once again. "Not really. But let me ask you this…"

A few seconds later, the sorcerer smirked at the question and the two appeared to laugh at something Vaati said. The teen turned to leave, and Dugal raised a parting hand.

He appeared satisfied. "Very well. It was a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Engst."

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Did you eat at a five-star restaurant or something? What took you so long?" Dark asked when Vaati showed up by the lockers just as lunch break was ending. When he didn't get a response, Dark began to grow suspicious. "Hey, what's up?"

"Huh?" Vaati finally turned his head, snapping out of whatever thought his mind was wandering in.

"Smoke some weed, did you?" Dark noted the sorcerer's dazed expression.

"Eh." Vaati shrugged and wandered over to class.

Usually Dark would have expected a snappy retort of some kind, and it was a little freaky that the sorcerer sounded so out of it. Either something had happened during the past forty-five minutes that he had been gone that Vaati wasn't willing to share, or he was now a pothead.

If it weren't for the fact that he knew Vaati denounced drugs for reducing his reflex and mental capacities, Dark would have figured the sorcerer had gone for a smoke.

Therefore, whether or not he was smoking aside, something was bothering his temperamental housemate and troublesome friend. He was going to keep a close eye on him, just in case.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Vaati mulled over everything Dugal had said as he leaned back in his chair in the far corner of the classroom. The teacher was droning on and on about something he didn't really care about. Maybe something about Tocqueville in America; he wasn't paying attention. He also didn't notice Dark glancing at him occasionally, wondering what was up with him.

All Vaati could think about was what he was getting himself into. He remembered the last bit of conversation just before he left the fast food chain:

"_Anything else?"_

"_Not really. But let me ask you this," _

_Vaati glanced over at him. _

"_Are you willing to take risks?" _

Vaati smirked to himself at the memory. The history teacher stopped lecturing when she noticed the sorcerer not really listening.

"Vaati, are you paying attention?"

"Hmm?"

His response encouraged a few giggles, and there were a few grumbles as the teacher warned him about his participation grades. Vaati still continued to smirk with an amused air, not really caring about what the teacher thought.

The more he thought about it the more he couldn't get the temple out of his head.

_Are you shitting me Dugal? _He grinned, chewing on the end of his eraser. _Of course I'm willing to take risks. _

_

* * *

_

fleets: And now we begin to follow the cards ;). Hope I know what I'm doing ahaha.

**Midna Hytwilian: **Glad to be of service :) (bows)**  
**

**SubZeroChimera: **No. No I couldn't XD**  
**

**Astral S. Kepeire:** Their play-through of FSA isn't over yet, thanks to Vaati's sabotage efforts. I really wish I could reveal more about the double-T pair, but unfortunately I think it'll severely ruin their entrance. You'll find out if I change my mind (because by that point I'll start spilling info). I won't forget about Rend (lol, considering I ended up submitting Ch 16 the same day OA Ch 1 came out D:)

**henslight: **I think with this chapter it'll be clear who the two Magicians are ;)  
Gamecube adventures are still ongoing. Stay tuned for more! ... lol**  
**

**Lord Siravant: **Not many people can understand his logic, don't worry. He's a little batty XD  
Also just curious, but have you read Avilux yet? I don't know how the reading experience for this one will be without it (you might get confused by the references). Then again, it might be possible to read this without having read the first one (I really have no idea). **  
**

**Purplegc: **Thanks! You know, this might be the first story ever where I focused on someone besides Vaati to set up the plot (disregarding the intro by Dugal in Avilux because he was talking about Vaati anyway). As for your question, yes, I'm implying he died in FSA but had the reincarnation spell figured out just before. I might mention it in the story if I remember to :)**  
**

**Vaati the wind mage1: **I know I've told my parents that the first thing I'll do if I gain the ability to use magic is to make all my chores go away. They weren't very amused by that. **  
**

**Reily96: **Really really really. Really. Want to draw the double-T pair. To compensate I've been doodling all over my notebook, and then erasing them so I wouldn't be inclined to submit them on the intarwebs. Sad. Well we'll see, because FSA with V and D aren't over yet! XD**  
**

**TheParanoidLime: **I finally figured it out, so I'm going to attempt to write this one. Glad you like it so far, thanks for the support! :D**  
**

**Shadow R-B: **Thistle and Thyme are very vague, yeah. It's frustrating for me too, because I want to reveal them so badly but I have a feeling that would just ruin their official entrance. Aw thanks, you too! Emoticons! (jumps after them)**  
**

**TwilightWakerofTime: **Seriously. I wouldn't have to study as much. The game doesn't change too much - instead of controlling all four Links, you each control two for two-player (I don't know how it works for 3 player though). And obviously you'd need to cooperate to clear the stages (as Dark found out the hard way). It's a good thing you mentioned the gba in the review though: I forgot how you needed that to play D:**  
**


	3. So This is Working Together?

fleets: Happy Holidays! Sorry it's not a Rend update like I'd planned initially, but something kept making me come back to this story instead. Hope you don't mind too much :P  
Disclaimer: In addition to the fact I don't own the Zelda franchise, I also don't own the Pokemon franchise. Nintendo does ;)

* * *

**Chapter 3: So This is… Working Together?**

As soon as Dark got home from school later that day, he made his way straight to Vaati's room where he was sure the sorcerer had arrived fifteen minutes earlier like any other day. He ignored the initial yammering of Loze ordering him to help run the pizzeria, and he skipped the stairs two at a time until he reached the second floor. He stopped in front of the closed door to the sorcerer's room, suspicion blooming on his face.

Vaati always kept the door to his room open when he got back from school because he didn't like being cooped up. It was strange seeing him locking himself up like this.

_Something's fishy…_ Dark narrowed his eyes. He felt a little ashamed when he pressed his ear against the door to see if he could hear anything, but a little eavesdropping never hurt anyone. As long as he kept it to himself, at least.

Hands in the pockets of his jeans, Dark could make out faint tapping sounds of fingers furiously moving over a keyboard. There were a few pauses – probably from Vaati reading something on the computer – before another series of clicks and taps could be heard from behind the door.

Dark stepped away from the door, rubbing his chin. _That's a first. He actually seems busy for once. _

_Curious._

Just then, the door whipped open and Vaati nearly collided with Dark when the teen stepped outside. Dark flinched backwards, awkwardly trying to pretend he had been about to go to his own room. "Uh, hi Vaati."

Vaati just stared at him with a hint of slightly crazed obsession. It was that look he had when he was excited about something. Like, really excited about something. "Oh, it's just you," he mentioned when he noticed Dark. Then, Vaati stole a look downstairs to make sure Loze was busy with running the store.

"Hey, I was meaning to ask but are you okay?"

"Hmm, make sure Loze doesn't notice I'm gone. I'll be back in an hour, I'm going to the Palace," Vaati mumbled. When Dark looked at him pointedly, he seemed to notice his housemate had asked him something. "Oh sorry. What was that?"

Dark sighed. "Okay, look, you're hiding something aren't you?"

That got Vaati's attention. The sorcerer rounded on him defensively. "What gave you that idea?"

"You're not acting yourself. Actually, I take that back; you're acting like your creepy self except it's much more exaggerated than usual. Come on, just tell me already. You've been weird since you went out for lunch today."

Vaati regarded him for a long time. Then, he smiled wryly. "I ran into quite a catch today, and we exchanged phone numbers."

Dark looked at him skeptically. "A girl? _You?_"

"The whole thing sounds dangerous and exciting," Vaati laughed as he prepared to warp away. "What more can a guy ask for?"

As he left Dark with those words, he found amusement in the fact that he hadn't technically lied. The sorcerer chuckled at how clever he thought he was.

What Vaati didn't see was how Dark didn't really believe everything he'd said. He'd lived with the sorcerer for two years now – he knew that no girl would ever be able to make the wind mage have that devious, fiery expression he'd had as he'd walked out of his room. Vaati was after something big. Something bigger than a new female interest, that much was sure.

Dark cracked his knuckles.

_I'm going to get to the bottom of this, Vaati. _

XXXXXXXXX

"Mind your step, Thyme dear."

"What is – Ah!"

"I _told_ you to mind your step, Thyme dear."

"This place is so cluttered! Thistle, what _is_ this?"

"I heard somewhere that people expect practitioners of magic to have clutter, so I added some disordered orderliness to this place."

"You're not serious."

"Can't you just feel your skin tingling from all the magical power created from The Clutter?"

"All right, your sarcasm is so thick you could suffocate people with it…"

"Truthfully I just felt lazy about putting things away."

"I thought it was something like that. Huh, what's that you have there?"

"Oh, this thing? It's something fun I've been working on recently."

"It looks like a metal capsule of some sort? What does it do?"

"Here, try it."

"Hmm."

"Slide the small switch on the side until the center button glows blue."

"Uh huh."

"Now press the button and throw it."

"Okay then… EEEK!"

"Ah. I forgot to warn you…"

"_Thistle! _Oh my goddesses, everything's soaked!"

"Er, yes. I forgot to warn you that the metal ball contains pressurized water that is set to shoot water everywhere when thrown."

"It didn't occur to you that maybe, _just maybe_, this wasn't something to be used indoors?"

"It's not like water's going to hurt anybody."

"Here, I'm going to find some towels..."

"Isn't it fun though? I like to call it Squirtle."

"I'm not amused."

"I made another kind, too. This one glows red."

"…"

"Uh, well, I wouldn't recommend trying this one though,"

"I wouldn't have recommended trying 'Squirtle,' either."

"Because, er, how should I put it, this one is filled with gasoline."

"… oh my goddesses. Thistle –"

"I'm thinking of replacing it with ethanol instead. It's cheaper."

"_Thistle." _

"I call this one Charmander."

"That's no different than _a bomb._"

"It's not supposed to explode. Nothing's going to happen as long as no one lights a match next to it. And besides, if anything catches on fire I can put it out with Squirtle."

"What are these even for?"

"What do you think about painting these red and white?"

"You're dodging the question."

"The fact that I am ignoring your question should indicate that it's for me to know and for you to find out. But what do you think about painting these red and white?"

"_SIGH_. You mean like Pokeballs?"

"Exactly! Wouldn't that be fun?"

"And you're going to catch them all, are you?"

"Mmm, no. Just these two. And then I'll throw them with an 'I Choose You'!"

"And have water and ethanol everywhere, yes?"

"Yes."

"Do you ever take anything seriously?"

"What an absurd question. I'm always serious about everything."

"You're doing it again."

"What?"

"That voice you use when you're making fun of something."

"You mean when I'm lying?"

"Yes."

"And when I'm being sarcastic?"

"Yes."

"And therefore the voice I use seventy percent of the time?"

"More like ninety, yes."

"Well, then count this in the ten percent when I'm not being ironic, but these two things I made? They're not just toys. These little capsules are going to be very useful to me."

"Mmm."

"Oh, and very, very fun. Hilariously so, in fact."

XXXXXXXXXX

Sixteen days later, Vaati closed his locker for the last time that week. Tomorrow was Saturday, and the sorcerer was beginning to wonder when he was going to actually start hearing details about the temple expedition. It was almost three weeks since he had spoken to Dugal about it, and his initial excited impatience about it was dwindling into a fizzle with each passing day. Even Dark, who had been keeping a close eye on him to see what he was fretting about, had lost some interest and wasn't spying on him so much anymore.

He still didn't even know where they were going.

"Hey Vaati. Ready to go back home?" Dark came up next to him with his backpack slung over his shoulder. He sounded tired after a week's worth of classes.

Vaati nodded, tired for other reasons.

"You have any plans for the weekend? Are you free?"

The sorcerer shrugged.

"Wow I'm surprised. What about that girl you were so excited about three weeks ago? It doesn't seem like she's very interested in you if you're so free," the black haired teen snickered.

Vaati shot Dark a dirty look. The lack of communication from Dugal was exactly what was irritating him these days and he didn't need Dark rubbing it in. It was times like this when he wondered if Dugal wasn't telling him anything so Vaati would squirm with the uncertainty of it all. He would be evil enough to do something like that…

"Eh, I don't care anymore. It wasn't as interesting as I thought."

Just then, a persistent, annoying ring came from his jacket pocket. Eyebrows scrunching, he reached into his jacket and pulled out a small black phone. It vibrated earnestly in his hands.

"Who's th-"

"Shh!" Vaati flipped the phone open and pressed it to his ears. A smooth, infuriating voice that made him want to punch something flowed into his ears.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Engst. Please find a quiet place where you will be able to listen with full attention."

"Let me guess, she decided to call you to make plans." Dark grinned while observing Vaati's eyes taking on that sharp glint again. "You don't look like someone who 'doesn't care.'"

Vaati glared. _Well Dugal, you have AWESOME timing. Just. Awesome. _Then, he thought bitterly, _And you would be evil enough to set me up like this._

Dark watched the sorcerer listen intently to the phone. Vaati nodded once, and then said something that struck the other boy as peculiar: "I'm going to hang up. Call me back in twenty seconds sharp." Before Dark could say anything, Vaati clicked his phone shut and ran out of school to warp out of sight.

Dark rubbed his chin. Once again, he had let the sorcerer run off before he could get him to tell him what the hell was going on.

And he would be stupid to think there was nothing going on.

XXXXXXXXX

"Hello Mr. Engst. How is your day?"

"Bloody well, thanks. Took you long enough to call," Vaati spat. He locked the door of his room shut and levitated over his bed with his knees crossed like some angry genie. There was a slight, baffled pause on the other end.

"Hm. I was making sure everything was set up properly for the trip. Being unprepared would be foolish, as you may well imagine."

"I thought we were working together, Dugal! I need to know about these plans of yours if we're _working together._"

"And that is exactly why I called you. I need to ask you a few questions," Dugal answered, smoothing over Vaati's accusatory tone like a steamroller would an ant.

"What in Din's name is going on with th-"

"Tomorrow at noon, please go to the park where your friends and I had that little reunion last year."

"Tomorrow at… what?" Vaati stared at his phone. The slightly fuzzy sound from the phone buzzed.

"I take it you are free and able to go?"

The sorcerer could just imagine Dugal pushing up his glasses and leaning against a damn comfortable chair, expecting him to answer the way he wanted him to. Vaati thought he deserved to have his superiority squashed. "No," he replied firmly.

Just as he thought, Dugal's voice hesitated in the way that suggested the man didn't expect that answer. "… No, Mr. Engst?"

"No. I want to meet today so you won't have time to weasel out a half-baked response. And you're going to tell me everything."

"You want to meet… pardon, _today?_"

Vaati grinned triumphantly. "Exactly. I wager you can have that arranged."

"Now look here –"

"You can handle a little schedule change. I know you can."

"Wh-"

"In three hours time, you'll see me at the bench we were at the last time." Vaati leaned back in the air so he hung upside down over his bed. He was still peeved that Dugal was doing things while keeping him out of the loop as though he thought the sorcerer wasn't worth informing. _We're going to do things my way, you sneaky little bastard._ "Thanks for calling!"

He ended the conversation cheerfully and snapped the cell phone closed. He watched the phone float away in midair, and when it still didn't ring after several minutes he smiled satisfactorily and let the levitating device drop onto his pillow. He wanted answers, and he was going to get them now.

XXXXXXXXXX

Three hours later, Vaati teleported behind a clump of bushes in the park so no one would see him appear out of thin air. Then, he flicked away some stray leaves from his shoulder and stepped out as though he were going for a casual stroll. He looked around for the bench where, about a year ago, Dugal had called out him, Dark, and Zelda to tell him everything they knew about the Avilux incident. He gave a slight smile when he saw a man in a black suit sitting stiffly on a bench and wiping his glasses.

"Hello Mr. Engst." Dugal continued to wipe his glasses as Vaati approached. He sounded just as upset as the sorcerer had earlier, and probably for similar reasons: he also didn't enjoy not being the one pulling all of the strings. "So you wanted to hear about my plans, yes?"

Vaati huffed. "It's been about three months since you mentioned anything about this trip. I think I deserve to know a little more about what I'm getting myself into."

Dugal slowly and deliberately pushed his glasses on his nose and stared down at them coolly. "Isn't this a part of what's called 'taking risks?' I was under the impression that you were okay with that."

That rustled the wind mage. "Well, yeah…" he admitted.

"Then I see no reason why you should be so upset, as you clearly are right now."

Vaati fumed. He was being forced into the other man's rhythm and if he let this go for too long he was going to lose all notion of being in control. He knew Dugal's type: that man would let his pawns _think_ they had control of things when they didn't. He was the kind of person who could make citizens believe their nation was a democracy, even when they were under a dictatorship.

In fact, what unnerved him the most was that his intuition told him they weren't too different from each other. He also had an inkling that Dugal felt the same; especially from the way the man kept a tense distance from him.

Well, for starters they both had a tendency to look down their noses at people. Put two people like that in the same vicinity and you had two very uncomfortable narcissists who where both trying to outstretch their necks over the other.

"At any rate," Dugal continued, "What I need to know before I proceed further is the full extent of your abilities. I've witnessed some of it in the past – teleportation, hurling powerful spheres of energy, et cetera. What other things can you do, and what are your limitations?"

Vaati took a seat on another bench across from the one Dugal was sitting at and crossed his arms with a sneer. "Various things. But first, tell me more about this plans of yours."

The other man sighed impatiently. "For these types of things, it's better if less people know about all the details."

"Pfft. You're worried about a leak?" Vaati scoffed. "You think I'll be foolish enough to advertise something like this?"

"I've gotten to where I am now by being cautious. One little slip is all it takes to ruin an otherwise good plan."

"I haven't even told Dark about anything." When he saw Dugal stare at him expressionlessly, he narrowed his eyes with a smirk. "You thought I'd tell him, did you? Well I'm smarter than you give me credit for."

Dugal didn't sound satisfied. Finally, he huffed, "But I expect he's suspicious of you, at the very least."

"Well of course he's suspicious! I know I'm driving him insane by now. But suspicion without proof doesn't get anyone anywhere." Vaati grinned knowingly. "I'm pretty sure dozens of people are suspicious of you by now, but no one's ever been able to pin you down, have they?"

There was a silence between the two as the sorcerer gave the other man time to take in his words. He smiled in that arrogant way that was backed by the life experience most high schoolers his age couldn't possibly have. Vaati observed with amusement how Dugal's eyebrows gradually inched together like two fuzzy caterpillars until they met in a furrowed, angry mush in the middle.

"Hmph. Very well," the man gave in. "Do not make me regret this." Leaning forward almost conspiratorially, he crossed his hands in front of his face. "We will depart on the afternoon of December 27, and as far as your family and friends are concerned you are travelling for shadowing during your break. As you are currently a senior in high school, this shouldn't be too suspicious."

Vaati interrupted him immediately. "You're wrong. You better have some pretty convincing story to get Gramps to believe I care enough to go job shadowing." He scoffed. "See? This is what happens when you make plans without telling the people involved."

"I will bear that in mind for future reference," Dugal said, his voice taking on a strained, dangerous tone. Still, they were in the middle of a peaceful park and he couldn't do anything rash or risk attracting attention. He continued civilly. "I will think of something to have your grandfather out of the way. On the 27th, you will take a taxi to Newark where you will meet me at the airport. From there we will fly to California and I will take you to the temple in question."

Dugal waited patiently with a 'There, satisfied?' look on his face.

Vaati's lips flattened into thin lines. "I find it hard to believe that that's all there is to it."

The other man shrugged, tugging at his purple tie. "What more do you expect? Would it have been better if I said we were going to smuggle ourselves to California in suitcases?"

"I mean that I think you're leaving out a lot of things unsaid," Vaati glared. "Where is the temple, exactly, and what's inside it?"

"I've told you all you need to know for now."

"So that's how it's going to be, is it?" the sorcerer leaned back in his bench defiantly. He said nothing for a few minutes, and then smiled with fake cheerfulness. "All right, I suppose I can tell you what I can do since you need my help. I'll take your word that I'll find out more about the temple eventually."

Dugal remained perfectly still and waited patiently.

"I can teleport us anywhere as long as I have coordinates. I can even teleport us to California if you'd only just tell me where we're going – then we can skip the entire plane ride."

The man waved him away with his fake arm. "I've thought about that, but I'm not sure the use of magic for travel will be a good idea in this case. Sometimes, we _want_ the people who may be following us to have records of where we're going. You'll see why later." He drummed his fingers. "Please continue."

Vaati huffed, and obliged. "I can turn any living thing into stone, cause a storm in any region as long as I'm present in the area, and destroy whatever I don't like."

"… Can you be more specific about the last bit about you destroying things?"

"Example: I don't like you. Therefore I can turn you into to ashes with a very devastating energy beam."

"Ah. I see. Well I would suggest you don't use that often because flashy, explosive types of murder will attract the most annoying kinds of people like flies to carrion. You are aware, I imagine, of what happened with the world's governments after the Avilux incident."

Vaati sighed. This was one thing he didn't like about the future world compared to the world in the past: it was stupid to believe you could be a single, powerful entity and have a cakewalk in subduing everyone. In the past, Vaati could just subdue the Hylian royalty and scare the other people enough to make the entire nation freeze up like petrified rabbits. In the future, you _had_ to have at least an army to back you up or you were definitely going to have nukes and ballistic missiles and other nightmarish weapons thrown at you.

Even a super powerful sorcerer like him wouldn't be able to handle _all _of those things at once.

_Checklist for world domination: a.) Find an army. Fast._

"Yes, I'm aware," he said finally.

Dugal nodded. "Very well." He fiddled with his ring for a moment. "So you can teleport, destroy things, and… destroy things. Anything else?"

"Destroying things in other ways." Vaati laughed when the other man didn't appear amused. "What did you expect? I'm an evil sorcerer: I specialize in terrorizing people. Didn't you read the Hylian legends about me? I saw a few in the library, and I'm sure you've poked your nose around to find out more about me."

"Now about that," Dugal frowned. "Is it true that you're really the wind mage incarnate of the twenty-first century?"

"Believe what you want to believe. That's all I have to say."

"Right, but my question is, _how?_"

At this time, Vaati simply returned Dugal's earlier favor. "I've told you all you need to know for now."

Vaati's crooked grin cracked into a wide sneer when he saw the other man squirm in frustration. As a team, they were working together quite horribly and a bystander might have mistaken them as rivals instead. Even so, seeing someone who was normally lofty being shoved off of their pedestal of privilege was a delight that never got old.

There was a ten second stare-down where tension crackled between the two supposed 'allies.' Then, Dugal stood up to leave and Vaati did the same. "All right. That's all I needed to know for now." He held out his left hand. "If you would give me back the phone I gave you."

"This?" Vaati pulled out the black cell phone from his jacket and handed it over. Wordlessly, Dugal took it and handed him another phone that looked exactly the same.

"I will be calling this phone from now on."

Vaati smirked. "So am I right that someone's trying to track you?"

"I'm merely being cautious. Someone like Kestrel would be able to bug these phones easily if given the chance."

The mention of the old Talon group's tech expert caught Vaati's interest. As he slipped the new phone into his jacket, he tilted his head questioningly. "Just curious, but what happened to the other guys after you disbanded?"

Dugal straightened out his jacket. He began to walk down the park path towards the parking lot, holding up one hand in a lazy wave. "I will talk to you again some other time, Mr. Engst. Good day."

* * *

fleets: Right now it seems like all Thistle mentions is a whole lot of random nonsense. It also probably sounds like his talk with Thyme has nothing to do with the story. Ah well, I don't blame you, but I won't include his talks if they weren't important :3

**Shadow R-B:** Waiting for Christmas... that's exactly what it feels like. DX Whoo, emotes for me! (jumps on them) Er, anyhoo, thanks! I think this one is going to be fun to write :)

**Slyshin: **Vaati's my favorite Zelda villain, and I really hope he comes back! (part of the reason why I started writing fics about him was because his disappearance from the games was really disappointing...) Thanks! And I think you're right about 'inspiration.' :D**  
**

**msfcatlover: **Dark's a fan of his own games XD Meanwhile, Vaati's in denial. **  
**

**Midna Hytwilian: **The game itself wasn't that good. All I remember is that it was forgettable, unlike games like WW and Link's Awakening. **  
**

**Nira Rose:** Oooh yes that was a huge risk! (which he's now paying dearly for). Happy to finally start this too :D

**darkdigidestined: **You're welcome, and glad you like it! :)**  
**

**henslight: **I've been going back and forth on the concept of keeping Zelda or getting rid of her. Personally I would prefer not to include her just so I wouldn't have to juggle so many characters, but a part of me thinks she's too important. I'll have a better idea once I start writing the actual relevant chapters. **  
**

**Astral S. Kepeire: **Whoops, I didn't notice that! (yeah that sounds awkward lol). I'll need to fix that, thanks for catching it as always! :D  
Vaati and Dark's Gamecube Adventures will continue...  
Ohoho very good guess. It _is_ an obvious setup that's too good to ignore if you're paying attention to that fact (like you did). ;)  
I wouldn't say you've got it nailed, but it's a very good guess. **  
**

**SubZeroChimera: **Ah, now _I_ have to go listen to the bolero of fire remix XD**  
**

**Sapphiet: **He doesn't like the Holocaust - that was his point ;)  
Those two working together is going to be... difficult. lol. **  
**

**GGFF: **I didn't know the website existed until I put in the search Vaati did and came across the entry. I thought the domain name was funny so it managed to find its way into the story :3  
And oh man, I love writing about Thistle. I like Dugal and Vaati too, but Thistle belongs in his own category of insanified snark. **  
**

**i-wish-799: **Vaati, Dark, Dugal, Thistle, Thyme - I have too many characters I like writing about in this story XD. Well, I'm not complaining haha. **  
**


	4. Plans Set in Motion

**Chapter 4: Plans Set in Motion**

Another day, another afternoon, Dark ran up the stairs of Loze's Pizzeria to quickly escape to his room from the old man's scolding. It was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving break, so he barely had any homework to do: for once, all of his teachers had told the students that they should just enjoy the break. He was about to go pester Vaati to help finish the chores so Loze would shut up about it, but was stopped by an unusual sight.

The sorcerer was playing Four Swords Adventures in the living room.

"Huh? I thought you hated that game." Dark barged in, while Vaati gave a noncommittal grunt and lazily went back to focusing on the game.

"I did. I still do, in fact," Vaati pressed a few buttons on the controller and moved the four Links through the level. Dark was surprised Vaati wasn't making them jump off of cliffs… yet.

"Dark Cloud? Isn't that one of the last stages? You passed me – I'm only on Pyramid."

"Mmhmm. Just one more level and I'll have to play through the Palace of Winds, I suppose." Vaati yawned, bored. "As for passing you, I've already passed you a while ago. I've just been playing this same stage many times."

"What, are you stuck or something?" Dark doubted it. It looked like the sorcerer was finding the game way too easy. Vaati scoffed.

"Feh, this game is child's play. That's just another thing I hate about this game – it demonstrates to everyone just how incompetent I was when really, I'd like to think I gave Link more trouble."

"Then why are you stuck on this stage?"

"I am not stuck," Vaati replied flatly. He leaned back when the game's music shifted and the four Links arrived in front of a shining mirror set in the middle of an insignia of a large eye. A little black colored Link hopped out of the mirror, and the objective scrolled on the top of the screen.

It read: Defeat Shadow Link!

Dark watched Shadow Link easily defeated by the four Links Vaati controlled. Then, four more Shadow Links hopped out of the mirror.

"You give out a lot of force gems when you die," Vaati explained nonchalantly as he swatted down the multiple darker Links. He paused between attacking to collect the big green gems that Shadow Link dropped.

"Uh, me? That's not me."

"Yes, you. Well, not technically you but it's more fun to pretend it is." Vaati defeated two out of the four, and the screen paused for the arrival of Princess Zelda. He frowned. "Ugh, I hate how she shows up to stop the mirror from spitting you out like Made-in-China factory dolls. She spoils everything." The sorcerer sighed. "Oh well. It would have been annoying if Shadow Link continued to multiply like rabbits. He gave me enough trouble with his mischief as it were."

Dark gave a long look at the many Shadow Links running around on the screen. "Did this actually happen?"

"Kind of. There were a lot more than six, I believe. I don't think the game developers thought it would have been reasonable to have over twenty Shadow Links swarming everywhere."

Dark became uncomfortable under Vaati's long gaze. "What?"

Vaati shrugged, and then went back to beating the Shadow Links. "Eh, just remembering how Shadow Link – who looks a lot like you, by the way – used to think it was funny to light bombs all over the palace."

Dark absentmindedly glanced up at his Detona cap that had a picture of a bomb on it. "Oh." Then, "And was this your idea? To have a bunch of infinite Links?"

"Sort of," Vaati destroyed all but one of the Shadow Links, and then whistled a tune as he moved his Links and lined them up neatly along the edge to let them start diving off the cloud. "It wasn't one of my better plans. Stupid Shadow Links proved to be only slightly less irritating than the real Links." He set the controller next to him as the words 'Game Over' dropped onto the screen. Vaati smiled. "There, that's my favorite part of the game. Everyone dies. El Oh El."

"Actually, you look bored out of your mind." Dark noted the sarcasm within the grin.

Vaati huffed, but didn't say anything. It was true he was bored, and it was because he couldn't get his mind off of the trip to the temple. He wished he could pry out its location from Dugal so he could warp there himself, but the man wouldn't tell him anything except implying it was in California. He began to think he understood why Dr. Willits from the Avilux company had once described Dugal as "slimy."

Dark made to grab the controller that was sitting next to Vaati. "Here, I can't stand you wasting your time just watching a bunch of Links die over and over again."

"I wonder why…"

Dark ignored him. "So move over will you? I'm going to finish this fast."

Vaati protested and tried to take the controller away, but was shoved away by Dark. He gave up, and resorted to glaring at the screen. Dark quickly cleared the level and Vaati watched critically the entire time. He was quiet up until he saw that the boss of the Palace of Winds was –

"There you are."

"That is _not_ me!" Vaati stood up from his seat when he saw the floating purple eye with bat wings. Dark waved his hand at him to sit back down.

"Yeah, you're a lot more talkative in real life," he wrenched his controller away from the sorcerer who was trying to pry it away from him. Dark grinned. "I mean, no gloating? I would have imagined you would have gloated. A lot." He started throwing the bomb flowers that were growing around the stage into the boss Vaati's tornado. "Ahaha, man you're so dumb. Don't you know what bombs will do to you?"

The sorcerer watched the screen coldly for a few more seconds, and then he brought up a single finger. With one snap, the game system turned into a grey, solid stone cube and the television screen blinked black. It told them there was no input signal.

"Hey! What was that_?_!"

"That's how the game ends, obviously," Vaati said scornfully.

Fighting ensued. Various sounds of yelling and thudding and objects hitting other objects could be heard a floor below where the wiry old Grandpa Loze was working. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Loze excused himself a little embarrassedly from the few customers who were eating pizza. He winced when he heard a loud crash along with cursing, and tried to play ignorant of the few customers who were laughing. Loze stomped up the stairs and pushed his sleeves up towards his shoulders.

"Will you boys be quiet_?_!" He yelled through the open door of the living room where the scuffle was going on. His face grew red at the scene before him.

Dark had managed to ram his black cap over Vaati's eyes and had him locked in a guillotine choke. Vaati, on the other hand, had picked out Dark's Grappling Hook with magic where it wrapped around Dark's neck. They were both blue in the face from trying to get the other to submit first.

"You two drop it! Or else I'm kicking both of you out into the streets!" Loze roared. Vaati and Dark grudgingly obeyed, while the old man stomped over to the Grappling Hook. He picked it up between his fingers as though it were a dead snake. He turned sternly to Vaati who had been in possession of Dark's homemade hook, while Dark shuffled away as though he'd never seen it. "What in Farore's name is this, m'boy?"

"Something Dark had," Vaati muttered.

"But you were choking him with it?" Loze dangled the nasty looking hook tied at the end of the rope in front of the pale teen's face. "I'm not having any murders in this household, am I clear?"

"Didn't you see him? He was choking me too!" Vaati exclaimed, and then he mentally slapped himself. _I just said that? Yes, I just said that. The world's most powerful sorcerer is resorting to finger pointing to defend himself against one, irritating old geezer. _Vaati stiffened. _How embarrassing._ It wasn't easy to grow out of Gale, it seemed.

Loze sighed. "I'm going to confiscate this. I can't imagine what you'd need it for." Dark's eyes widened momentarily after hearing one of his items was going to be taken away, but he kept his silence. He figured he could always make another one. "If you keep this up I'm going to change my mind about giving you permission to go on that scholarship program in California this winter."

"Hey now, my future's riding on that," Vaati retorted while smiling smugly to himself. When he had initially given very convincing paperwork that Loze had to sign as his guardian, Gramps hadn't believed that the lazy teen would have actually received a scholarship invitation from an IT company in California. However, after the sorcerer had shown Loze his current school grades – straight A's across the board – the old man could only agree with Vaati that his improvements in the past two years had been nothing short of stellar. The company sounded legitimate enough from the website when Loze had checked to make sure Vaati wasn't pulling his leg, and before long the sorcerer had managed to get Gramps to sign papers he wasn't even going to submit.

The company was fake, after all. And he definitely wasn't going on some scholarship program.

Using Vaati's advice, he and Dugal had come up with a scholarship story to feed Loze to make him less suspicious about his trip to California during winter recess. Dugal had handled making permission forms, waivers, and brochures to mail from an associate on the West Coast to make the whole thing as realistic as possible, and he'd also slapped together a website that Loze could look at if he needed more convincing.

It had worked: Loze grumbled about it, but didn't bother asking more questions – he grumbled about most things anyway and if he could get rid of grouchy pale-face for free, then why the heck not?

Loze muttered under his breath as he made his way back downstairs with Dark's Grappling Hook. Vaati was about to walk back to his room, grinning, when a deliberate scoff stopped him in his tracks.

"First time I heard something about that."

Vaati glanced over his shoulder where Dark was eyeing him sorely. The wind mage's lips curled into a devious smile. "Oh, I didn't tell you?"

Dark scowled. "No."

"No need to look so upset, Dark. It doesn't have anything to do with you." Vaati flipped his longer hair in an infuriating fashion and continued on his merry way. He strode into his room and shut the door in the other teen's face, closing the door with a click.

"Well congratulations on your _scholarship_," Dark told the door, straining the last word. He added, "And you better fix that game, you 'tard!"

He heard Vaati laughing behind the door, and with a disgusted look Dark turned around to retreat into his own room. He stopped, however, when something caught the corner of his eye. Dark slowly walked back a few steps to take a better look at the painting that was hanging in the wall just across Vaati's room. The painting itself, some 'modern' piece that was just a bunch of splattered colors, wasn't what had stopped Dark in his tracks. It was the clear protective plastic over it that had caught his interest.

Dark turned his neck this way and that, trying to find the right angle. He could have sworn he had seen something peculiar within the blurry reflection the plastic cover gave. Dark froze when he saw it. No, not it.

_Them_.

"!" His breath hitched, but he remained as still as possible to give the impression that he was merely appreciating the painting on the wall. Still, that wasn't an easy task considering there were three spooky looking eyes hovering above the door to Vaati's room, all of them staring at his back intently. It was a little too blurry to make out details from the poor reflection of the plastic, but Dark knew that he wasn't imagining those red and yellow colored eyes flying in front of Vaati's door. He dared to turn around and look at where the vague reflection had revealed the sentry eyes.

There was nothing he could see with his bare eyes. But when he looked back at the reflection in the shiny plastic…

They were there again.

_There's an old saying that mirrors reveal the truth…_ Dark thought. He casually walked towards the bathroom. A few minutes later, he returned with a small mirror in his hands. With his back to Vaati's door, he cautiously held up the mirror so that it would reflect the space just above the doorframe.

Three maroon eyes with bat-like wings flapped around the entrance of Vaati's room. They appeared to be guarding a heavy lock with a large red eye in the middle that was set within the door.

Dark quickly shoved the mirror into the pocket of his jeans and he went back to quietly facing the painting on the wall.

No doubt those things had been placed by Vaati to make sure no one but him could get into his room. Dark wondered just how long ago those sentries had been installed, but he guessed that they'd been placed ever since that day Vaati had returned late from lunch with the queerest expression on his face; as though he'd been stoned. Before that, the sorcerer had never bothered with keeping his door shut.

_What does he have to hide, and what would happen if I tried to open the door with those invisible things guarding it? _Dark pondered. He rubbed his chin. If Vaati was hiding something from someone, then he doubted it was Loze the sorcerer was worried about. Gramps rarely had any interest in what the boys were doing; as long as they weren't disrupting his pizza business, he left them alone. Did that mean that it was Dark he was worried about? Or maybe there was something… _someone_… else?

The door swung open, making Dark jump. A condescending voice soon followed. "Hmm? Still standing there Dark?" Vaati asked in mock surprise. His eyes narrowed in a way that suggested he knew what Dark had been up to.

The black-haired teen stood his ground, even though he was slightly spooked. "Just looking at this painting," he replied, while his mind thought: _Wow Vaati, sometimes I wish we never helped you get your memories back. I don't remember Gale being so… sketchy. _

Vaati smirked, and then went downstairs to grab something to drink. He returned with a glass of soda and then waved his hand tauntingly as he returned to his room. Once the door closed shut, Dark hurried to his own room and fell into his desk seat. He took a long, drawn breath.

_They're not just guards – they're like cameras too. He can see what's going on outside. _Dark rested his chin on his hands. He closed his eyes, going over everything he knew regarding Vaati's recent behavior.

Vaati had met someone, and Dark was sure it wasn't just some new girl.

Vaati was keeping contact with this person with his cell phone.

Ever since Vaati had met this person, he had resorted to keeping his room securely locked, going so far as to post sentries and placing magical wards. He was worried about someone learning… something… about him. It was either Dark, or, in a freakier line of thought, someone else he was cautious about.

Dark's icy blue eyes flew open, making up his mind. It was obvious that he couldn't break into Vaati's room while the wily sorcerer was still around, but he had a shot if Vaati went far away. As in, California far away during winter recess.

He could do it. Finding ways through locked places was just the sort of thing Dark was good at. This one was going to be trickier because it involved magical sentries that were invisible to the naked eye, but still. He was good at solving puzzles, too.

_If you're not going to tell me what's going on, _thought Dark, _I'll just find out my own way. _

XXXXXXXXX

The impatient honking of the cars drifted through the modest fourth floor apartment in the middle of the bustling, legendary New York City. A blond haired young man with a boyish face, roughly in his early or mid thirties, walked over to the window and closed the shades to make an effort to reduce the noise. His companion looked up irritably from where he'd been squinting at his laptop as he sat cross-legged on the floor. He was slightly younger than the blond.

The blond glanced up, and then wordlessly flipped on the lights. The other man nodded and went back to scrutinizing the faintly glowing screen of his computer. It appeared to be connected to a small black box that whirred determinedly. The man's eyes moved quickly over the data that continually fed onto the screen, and occasionally he would sigh and tiredly type in commands.

The blond walked over to a tall mirror that was hanging on the wall and he reached into his prim black suit, pulling out a semi-automatic. He twirled it expertly and aimed it several times at his reflection in the mirror while the arrhythmic taps from the keyboard sounded behind him.

After some time, the man in front of the computer pulled his tinted glasses off of his nose. He scratched his head with his right hand, and drummed his fingers with his left. "Rrrr, this is so frustrating." The blond tilted his head slightly to acknowledge he'd heard his partner, and he smiled a little as he brought his gun up and then put it back into his jacket. "I know they're going to start soon, but they're being really sneaky and I can't find out more than the general time they're going to make their move!" His black hair shook with impatience.

"Well that's still something we have to go by," the blond reassured. "Besides, we can't do anything until _they_ do something first. We'll have plenty of time until you weasel out more information, and by then we'll have a water-tight plan."

The man in front of the computer placed his sunglasses on his face again, even though there was no need for them. "Mmm," he muttered, staring at the screen again. "It's not easy to sneak into their systems this time. Though I guess I should've expected it since we're going against, well, _them_."

"Ha. I'm sure you'll find something. You always complain about the job…"

XXXXXXXXX

"Knock knock."

"Who's there?"

"Thyme…"

"Thyme who?"

"Thistle, this isn't a knock knock joke! Will you please open the door for me?"

"You're as funny as a murder scene, Thyme. That hardly made me giggle."

"Door? Open? Now?"

"Oh all right." _Click. _"What's the occasion?"

"A note for you. I figured you weren't checking the mail since you were working on your Squirtles and Charmanders."

"You know me too well. I haven't checked the mail at all."

"Don't say that proudly. You could have missed this important one."

"Yes but I knew you would check for me eventually. See how everything works out in the end?"

"… You know me too well."

"Kehehe, that I do. So what's so important about this note?"

"It's regarding government affairs."

"Ohhh, so it's one of _those_ notes."

"Yes, one of _those_ notes, whatever you mean by that."

"Is that your eye twitching, or are you rolling your eyes? Ah well. Let me read this."

"Anything interesting?"

"Hum, hum, it's brief but extremely interesting."

"Uh huh."

"Hmm."

"Er…"

"Hmm? Did you want to go to the bathroom or are you fidgeting for other reasons? You have my permission to use the restroom."

"I ought to slap you."

"Tsk tsk. No need for violence. Hmmm, this _is_ interesting."

"Rrrgh! Stop teasing me and tell me what's so interesting!

"Mm? Oh, so you wanted to know? You should have simply told me so."

"You are the worst."

"It appears _they_ are going to make their move soon."

"Oh… Wow. That's sooner than I thought. What do you want to do?"

"Do? Why, I am going to do nothing. Ah, but this is so exciting! Do you know what this message means?"

"Er…"

"The fortune has started! The Two Magicians, The Emperor, and The Devil are sure to start scrambling now. I wonder which card I represent; the fortune I read was _mine_ after all. At the same time, none of the cards may have been me and only represented an event that would involve me…"

"You really believe that card reading you did?"

"Believe in reading fortunes with cards? No, I don't. Believe in preordained outcomes and inescapable fates? Yes, I do."

"What's the difference?"

"The difference is that the latter suggests I know more about things than I pretend I do, dear Thyme. Just like the way I pretend to be more foolish than I appear to be…"

* * *

fleets: Vaati and Dark's LoZ game adventures continue... maybe? XD Poor gamecube is dead atm.  
Whoo, a lot of things in this chapter, yet at the same time... not. Lots of info with lots of vagueness. Vaati's door (what's he so worried about, hmm?), Dark's plans, those two men in NYC (guess who?_!_ XD), and Thistle (is he ever straightforward? haha). The fun's going to start soooon (er... I think. At least I hope it'll be fun for you haha).

**Midna Hytwilian: **Thistle's one of my favorite characters - he's silly, but he's not stupid hehe. If he had a favorite pokemon it would have to be a devious type. Maybe something like haunter XD**  
**

**Vaati the wind mage1: **Lots of things going on here. People are planning things left and right; it's bound to be chaotic :3**  
**

**henslight: **Well this version assumes the events of BC didn't happen (though I do include easter eggs from time to time) - so he hasn't really learned anything XD  
Job shadowing is when people follow someone in a certain profession they are interested in pursuing in the future. They can then figure out if that's the job they really want (and they also have the opportunity to make a good impression on potential employers). **  
**

**Shadow R-B: **I'm tempted to assign pokemon to the characters in this story XD. I can see Dugal with Honchcrow, Vaati with Crobat, Dark with Absol, Thistle with Haunter, Thyme with Venomoth... ok, I'm thinking way too hard about this lol. I got TWEWY for Christmas and a Final Fantasy game, along with a snowboard tune-up kit :3 Nice! That's so cool you got a laptop :D  
Thanks, and hope your New Years was good too! :)**  
**

**Sapphiet: **I think you're right about Vaati snapping first, though Dugal would probably have an annoyed expression the entire trip. (nods) Lots of sneakiness going on - it's going to get a little crazy!**  
**

**msfcatlover: **He definitely left out some things, but Dugal's left out some things as well (they've got a long ways to go for decent teamwork haha). Vaati has a habit of underestimating people - in this case, Dark knows more than Vaati thinks hehe. **  
**

**Lord Siravant: **Ah the Joker! You're right, he _is_ like the Joker in that respect :D**  
**


	5. As Expected

**Chapter 5: As Expected**

Alone in his room, Dark sat cross-legged on the floor as he stared accusingly at the little mirror that was lying face up a few inches away from him. It was a simple circular mirror with white frames that was small enough to fit in the palm of his hand, and it was also his Christmas present from Vaati before he'd left for his 'scholarship program' this morning:

"Sorry it's late," the sorcerer had said rather cheerfully as he'd shoved the present wrapped in purple paper into Dark's hands. It was wrapped hastily as though it had been an afterthought. "Gramps and I don't take holidays seriously." Vaati had tapped his chin, and then had added with a sneer, "Well, at least I don't. I figure the old man gave up after Gale gave him so much trouble."

"He gave me a 'get out of chores free' card…"

"Get used to it. He hands those out every year come Christmas time."

"Even money would've been nice… But hey, thanks for the late present I guess?"

"What's with that skeptical look? I'm not allowed to be nice for once since I'm the 'Oh So Evil Selfish Sorcerer?' Do you think there's a catch?"

Yes. Dark did think there was a catch. "Well I didn't get you anything and –"

"And it's not too late to get me anything. Surprise me when I come back from my trip. Oh, and in case I forget, Happy New Years! Pop some champagne bottles with Gramps for me hahaha!"

And with that Vaati had gone away for the West Coast, leaving Dark with his present that had turned out to be the small white mirror. The teen had been extremely cautious with the thing at first, making sure that nothing bad would happen if he touched it. Or something. Knowing Vaati, Dark was sure there was something to this mirror, but however much he looked at it he couldn't figure out anything wrong with it. But why would Vaati give him a mirror of all things? Dark had seen that taunting smile Vaati made whenever he was plotting something, so what had he done to the mirror?

The creepy eye bats floating around the sorcerer's room came to mind. He recalled that they were only visible with the help of a mirror, and that Vaati had caught him looking at them earlier. Maybe it was just another way Vaati was telling him "I saw you looking" – Dark wouldn't put it past the wind mage to do such a thing…

"I can't imagine what Link had to put up with since you actually disliked him," Dark sighed to himself as he picked up the mirror and scratched his head. "Then again, you were still the relatively harmless Gale when you knew Link, and not the slightly mental sorcerer you turned out to be." He raised the mirror up and gazed at his face.

Dark was absentmindedly fixing a runaway piece of hair when suddenly a flying purple sphere with a single red eye took up the entire view of the mirror.

"Ack!"

Dark flung the mirror away from him, and then winced when it hit the wall. Luckily it didn't shatter as it had hit the backside and landed on his bed.

_What the hell was that thing? _

Dark slowly edged towards the mirror that was lying face down on his bed. Reaching out his hand, he picked it up and cautiously turned it over to reflect his own face. Just as he did so, the eye popped back into existence once again. Looking at the image of the eye in the mirror, it was roughly as large as the palm of his hand, and the thing flapped its little bat wings while staring unblinkingly at him through the it.

"I knew the mirror wasn't the actual present Vaati was talking about," Dark muttered. "Thanks for a fucking awesome present… jerk." He walked over to his desk and picked up a pencil. He brought the pencil up towards where the flying eye was supposed to be according to the reflection. "All right you spying little freak, what happens if I do this?"

The eye bat squinted its eye in annoyance and flitted away from the pencil that was trying to poke it. For several seconds, Dark poked away in the air where he thought the invisible eye was. It was a lot harder than he thought it would be since the only way he could see the eye was through the palm-sized mirror that Vaati had given him.

After a while, Dark threw the pencil at it in frustration. To his surprise, it went through the hovering eye as though it weren't there. The eye's lids curled in such a way that made it look like it was sneering at him. Goddesses, he was being sneered at by a flying eyeball! Dark slapped his hand on his forehead tiredly. "Great, so you can go through solid things. And let me guess, you're going to follow me everywhere." The teen walked outside of his room with the mirror, and sure enough he could see the eyeball trailing him, moving through walls and other objects with little trouble. Dark angrily slapped at the eye with his hand, but that also went through the invisible creature as well. All he could feel was a slightly cool pocket of air where the eye was supposed to be.

"You're going to watch me so I don't go looking around your room, huh?" Dark jabbed a finger at the eye, and in the mirror's reflection he could see the thing flap away indignantly. "Well guess what, Vaati?"

At the sound of the wind mage's name, the eye floated a little closer to Dark almost happily.

"I'm going to see what you're hiding whether you know I'm looking or not, because by the time I look you're going to be so far away from here that you won't be able to do anything about it. So HA."

Dark stomped back to his room. Behind him, unseen to the naked eye, the tiny creature with bat wings eerily followed him with a slightly puzzled expression.

XXXXXXX

"So, did you have a nice holiday Mr. Engst?"

Vaati found Dugal waiting for him just in front of the ticket counters at Terminal C of Newark airport where he had said he would be waiting. The man looked slightly bored with a well-read newspaper open on his lap. He took up almost half the bench with one leg extended across lazily, as though his Armani excused him from most socially unacceptable behaviors. If an old lady had asked him now if he could move his leg so she could sit down, Dugal probably wouldn't have budged.

"Ha. Sure. I gave Dark something to think about during winter break," Vaati replied with a grin. He snickered lightly, thinking about how his little flying sentry eye he had stuck on Dark would be tormenting him just about this time. Vaati couldn't actually spy on Dark using the sentry – it only worked when he was somewhere nearby – but the sorcerer had figured that its presence alone would be enough to unnerve Dark. Oh, how frustrated he must be right now!

Dugal stood up from the bench and folded up his newspaper. "Hm, did you now…" he said aside. He picked up the suitcase that was propped against the bench and walked over to the ticket counters. There was a long line of people waiting their turn to retrieve their tickets, and Vaati frowned at the huge crowd. It was to be expected since they were travelling during the holiday season. "This way." Dugal ushered Vaati over to the slightly less crowded line. There was a soft maroon carpet in this line, and gold lettering was etched into it. It read, "First Class: Elite Access."

Vaati perked up. "Oh good. It's not that cramped Economy seating this time." His lips curled into a smirk as they filed past all of the miserable people waiting in the Economy line.

Dugal shifted his glasses. "I'm not going to settle with Economy when I don't have to," he scoffed. They only had to wait about five minutes before it was their turn. Dugal tapped his fingers on the digital buttons on the electronic ticket machine. A few seconds later, he pulled out two tickets from the machine and casually strolled over to Vaati. The sorcerer held out his hands, waiting expectantly for his tickets. Dugal passed one to him, and then waved Vaati over towards the escalators that led to security.

"Now we're going to have to hurry a bit, Mr. Engst, or we're going to miss our flight."

Vaati looked up from his ticket in confusion. "Miss it? But it says here that the flight won't be for another forty-five minutes." He began to quicken his pace to match Dugal's swift strides.

"If you would just listen to what I tell you and not worry, things will go smoothly," the man in the suit replied brusquely.

Vaati scowled. "Now look here, I'm not one of your brainless cronies who did everything you said without question."

"My ex-cohorts were not 'brainless,' thank you. They were more than capable themselves, but they also understood that leaving things to me yielded the best results."

Vaati recoiled slightly from the snappish retort. Something must have struck a nerve with the former Talon leader, and his voice had come off as harsh and pointed. He guessed it might have something to do with how the Talon group had disbanded, since that was something Dugal absolutely refused to talk about, let alone mention. Vaati let it slide even though he was miffed that he didn't feel like he was in charge of things, deciding that conflict wasn't worth it if things were going fine. The arrogant fool would have ample time to discover whom the real authority was once Vaati knew a little more about what was going on.

_And that's just the trouble…_ Vaati grumbled to himself. _The prick is hardly giving me any opportunities to discover anything about this venture. He probably knows I'll be able to take over when I do find out, smart bastard…_

Once again with the help of Elite Access privileges, Vaati and Dugal were able to skip most of the long line waiting to get past security. The security guard glanced at the annoyed scowl on Vaati's face for a second, wondering if he was having a bad day. The sorcerer was able to get by without a problem, but Dugal was stopped briefly after he went through the new full-body-scan. The man's face darkened irritably, and he drummed his fingers impatiently as the guards questioned him.

"Sir, may we see your right arm please?"

Dugal shot a glare, and though the security guard was usually good about standing up to angry people, there was something unsettling about the 'don't-mess-with-me' expression on the other man's face. Dugal threw his black leather glove off of his prosthetic hand onto the table next to him and held up the bionic arm up to the guard's face. He didn't say anything, but instead settled for a look that said, "Do you have a problem with that, hmm?"

The security guard looked at the mechanical arm carefully. It looked like something straight out of a cyborg movie. The guard had never seen a prosthetic arm like that before. "And can you roll up your sleeves? Just to make sure you're not hiding anything. We think we may have seen a pistol in the scan."

"Oh give me a break! Here, this should be clearance enough," Dugal reached into his pocket and shoved a plastic card towards the security guard. The guard's expression twisted into one of complicated confusion, and then he made his way over to another security guard working by the computer. They exchanged a few words, and after a few minutes the first security guard glanced down at the card in his hands, then at the computer screen, and then at Dugal who was staring them down with a look of disdain.

The guard looked back at the card again with a gawk. He scurried over to Dugal apologetically. "Sorry sir. Government official… you should have said so from the beginning."

_Government official? _Vaati scrunched his brows together in confusion. That was new.

Dugal huffily shooed him away. "May we go?"

"Yes of course. Have a safe flight."

Once they were out of earshot of the security, Vaati ran up next to Dugal with a hiss. "What's this about you being a government official?" When Dugal continued to ignore him, the sorcerer pulled him roughly by the sleeves and stopped him in his tracks. "If you don't start being straight with me this partnership is _over._"

"Don't be nonsensical, Mr. Engst. You already signed up for this; there's no backing out."

Vaati stopped in his tracks, forcing Dugal to look over his shoulder sternly. The sorcerer growled. "You know why Talon Three worked so well? It's because you trusted your men. So if you want _this_," he pointed his finger between Dugal and himself, "to work, then you need to stop bullshitting me and start trusting me with facts."

"You have it all backwards," Dugal said coolly. "I did not trust them. Rather, they trusted me." He walked over to Vaati and gruffly took him by the wrist. "Leaders do not become leaders because they trust the ones they lead. They become leaders when others acknowledge the fact that the leaders can do a better job making decisions than they can." Dugal sneered. "Besides, I think you know and agree with me already – you're simply upset that you're not the one taking charge. Am I right?"

Vaati wrenched his wrist free. He made a face, but kept his silence. Dugal was right, of course, but he was loathe to admit it. Instead, Vaati glared angrily at him. The other man sighed.

"As for government official – I can thank Kestrel and Harrier for that when they were still working for me. A falsified title, and a very useful one at that," he explained half-heartedly. "Well, now that we've established that it would be best if you trusted me…" Dugal snapped his fingers earnestly. "The tickets you got earlier. Hand them over."

Vaati looked blankly at him questioningly.

Dugal sighed again. "What did I say about trust?"

_Coming from the most mistrustful guy on the planet with the exception of maybe myself? Pfft! _

At least… that's what Vaati thought. However, he carefully reached into his jacket pocket and brought out his ticket. Dugal snatched it away impatiently.

"If you would hurry please. We don't have much time." He tilted his head when a buzz came through on the intercom.

"_Will all passengers for Flight 1581 destination Seattle make their way to Gate C80 for boarding. The flight will depart in five minutes. Will all passengers for Flight 1581 destination Seattle – "_

"Tch! There's no time to be idle. Hurry, to Gate C80!"

"What_?_!" Vaati stumbled forward when Dugal began to run while pulling him along towards the gate. "But that one goes to Seattle Washington, not California!"

"If you wouldn't mind shutting up, Mr. Engst! There are ears here."

It was then Vaati's ears pricked at the sound of soft gasps just behind them. He whirled around just before Dugal urged him towards the gate. Vaati's eyes widened when he noticed a middle-aged couple staring at them from behind their tourist books on California. They could have passed as tourists, except the way they looked at Vaati and Dugal was somehow too critical to be simple tourists. It was a knowing, suspicious glance. "No way… they were… we're being…" Vaati stammered, and then he gritted his teeth and began to run with Dugal. "Why is the perfect Dugal being followed, and who the hell are they?_!"_ Vaati hissed between his teeth, shooting a withering glare at the former Talon leader.

"Don't fret, I expected this to happen. Remember what I said about wanting our followers to have records of where we're going?"

Vaati frowned. He vaguely remembered how Dugal had blown him off on telling him where the temple was, claiming that it was better to have their followers know where they were going. Then, his features relaxed when he realized what the whole reasoning behind the flight change as well as the day of travel. Dugal had, no doubt, been kept under surveillance considering how edgy he had seemed of late. The man had expected they would be followed even with all the precautions he could take, so he had let their followers think they were going to California. He had also bought another set of flight tickets to Seattle, probably under a different name, which they were going to use to get to their true destination. Because they were travelling during the busy holiday season, by the time their stalkers had discovered the flight change there was nothing they could do about it because all seats were packed. "Oh," Vaati mumbled under his breath.

"Do you see why we're changing flights now? Yes? So stop pestering me with questions and just do what I tell you. Oh and take this, you'll need it."

Vaati wordlessly took the new set of tickets offered. The sorcerer seethed, but he recognized that Dugal _did_ have everything under control so he didn't retaliate. Even so, that didn't stop him from being extremely annoyed by what Dugal had done. The man probably hadn't told him about the real plans because he'd needed Vaati to be convincing about telling people like Loze on going to California. Vaati felt used, and Vaati wasn't happy whenever he felt used…

The two finally made it to the gate just as the last people filed into the plane. A flight attendant showed them their seats, and they made themselves comfortable on the spacious first class seats of the Boeing 737. Panting lightly from the hurried run they had made to the gate, Vaati and Dugal sat in silence for several seconds while the small screen attached to the arm of their seats taught them what to do during an emergency.

Vaati rolled over on his side on the large black leather seat and stared out the window of the plane. He started thinking about the whole situation, and he couldn't help but frown when something occurred to him.

"You can relax, Mr. Engst. There's really nothing those people can do besides fly to California. By then they'll have no idea where we're going because we won't be in Seattle for long."

The creases along Vaati's forehead deepened. He could hear Dugal flipping through the magazines that had been stuffed in the netting in the seats in front of them. Without turning around, Vaati glowered, "But why were you sure you were going to be followed in the first place? Do you know them?"

"Questions, questions, Mr. Engst."

"I trusted you, didn't I? How about you trust me with some answers for once?" Vaati snapped.

Dugal put the magazine back where he'd found it. "You're very persistent, aren't you?" He fixed his tie that had been shifted out of place from their run earlier. "Very well, I'll tell you. I'm not certain about who they were, but I'm assuming they're people who want to catch me doing something illegal. There are a few people who are eager to prove I have committed an offense." Yawning, he leaned back comfortably. "It happens all the time: I'm quite used to it by now. It's not alarming at all. In fact, I would have been more worried if no one had followed us instead."

"But that couple who was following us started calling someone on the phone as soon as they realized we were going on a different flight."

"They can call all they want. What can they do? Nothing. Except maybe worry about it amongst themselves."

Vaati stared at the view outside as the plane began to move backwards out of the gate. "If you say so." He thought he could see the couple that had been following them earlier looking at their plane with rage through the high-paned windows of the terminal. He gave them a little wave, though he was sure they couldn't see him at this distance.

"Are you done with your interrogation, Mr. Engst?"

The sorcerer watched the gate getting farther away. Finally, he gave one slow nod.

"Perfect. Now I suggest you relax, as we have a six hour flight to look forward to."

Vaati snorted. "Joy."

* * *

fleets:Rrr, pretending to be Dugal is proving to be tougher than I thought. I mean, how do you turn into a character who's supposedly more clever than yourself? Beats me. Someone teach me how to be a smartass! (lol don't take that request seriously...)

So dang... this story is going to be freaking long. Hope you guys stick around for the long haul because this might be my longest story yet... D:  
Also, I'm becoming more fond of the idea of revealing what Thistle and Thyme actually look like on my deviantart page since it'll be months, MONTHS, into the future if I actually waited for their official entrance. Besides, I realized that the spoiler that I had been fearing wasn't so much of a spoiler (it would still be more epic if I waited, but I'm starting to think that by that time I would end up killing a few people - including myself - with anticipation). Sooo watch out for that if you're interested. In the meantime, hope you enjoy my other story-related deviations ;)

**SubZeroChimera:** Not so fast! He's a pro - he knows what he's doing. Also, I never actually said _who_ those other characters were following, did I? (cackles)

**Midna Hytwilian: **Funny you should mention that, because I have plans for him and MC (muahahahaha!) It will happen, yesssss. How can I resist?**  
**

**Purplegc:** Hawk and Kestrel are back! But where's Condor? Now Darkie's got a mini-Fuu (watches him with envy). LOL Vaati speaking Spanish. Actually, he probably knows some of it since he's taken school a bajillion times by now thanks to reincarnation mistakes.

**i-wish-799: **It might look like I've forgotten about the game, but it'll come back again for sure. It's too good to pass up! There are so many characters in this story it kind of worries me, especially since the one thing I was a little unhappy about the last time was the fact I couldn't give all the characters proper justice. They're all important though... so here I go again :P**  
**

**Shadow R-B: **Not sure how obvious it was, but those two men were Hawk and Kestrel. ;) I thought people would be able to figure it out, but I probably should have included their names the last chapter. TWEWY is a game for the DS. Check it out, it's awesome! I don't know much about Nanowrimo. I've never done it before - I think it's where you have to force yourself to write a story with a certain word count by the end of November? Ionno. Hmm, actually I was considering Thyme with Mismagius, but then opted for Venomoth instead. As for Lucario, probably not. Unless there was some corrupted version of Lucario or something. The closest character to a (corrupted) Lucario would probably be Condor (if and when he appears). At the same time, I think bird Pokemon would fit the Talon Three guys the best. **  
**

**msfcatlover: **Well he _did_ take highschool a bunch of times since he reincarnated a bunch of times, and now that his memory is back he knows the material whether he wants to or not XD  
Hawk and Kestrel YAAAAY. Hehe, couldn't help it. Thistle and Thyme are just too fun. I can't wait until they actually meet the other characters hehe. **  
**

**henslight: **Yeah, Thistle's no fool. He's actually starting to sound a bit sinister, isn't he? Missed Dugal? I'm surprised! (in a good way - what author doesn't like having their OCs missed? XD) Haha, that's pretty cool. I was wondering what was up with all the accents. **  
**

**TwilightWakerofTime: **Vaati: That's how the game _should_ be played. Silly.  
fleets: (shoves Vaati aside). Forget him. Anyways, yeah, so I was looking back on the draft and this story is going to be frightfully long (I think). Which also means Thistle and Thyme will (I think) be in the dark for quite some time... They're super important though (as I've been trying to hint for some time now). I just hope I won't bore people before I finally reveal what roles they play.  
And yeah, I really like italics! I use them a lot for thoughts and emphasis (but mostly thoughts). It might be more confusing reading the story without knowing where the italics are? (shrugs) I don't really know.  
You're right! I like that idea better. Then Link can be Eevee or something. Maybe Leafeon since it's green? Lol. Then Dark can be Umbreon and it'll make sense (cheers). **  
**

**midnachick97: **I don't know about epic regarding the storyline, but it will certainly be epically long! Thank you so much for your enthusiasm - it really means a lot (especially for motivation to write even more). Haha, it would be cool to get something published. Maybe one day I can write an original story I can call my own completely so I wouldn't have to worry about talking to Nintendo over rights :3**  
**

**LilyMoonstone: **Oh yeah. I forgot about the loyalty thing (tosses idea aside). Fine, then he shall be... Jynx. Because he has long hair. (killed by one angry wind mage)**  
**

**Vaati the wind mage1: **Yes, where indeed is Sterling? (shifty eyes). **  
**


	6. Bird Watching

fleets: Thanks for the reviews everyone! You guys are awesome!

* * *

**Chapter 6: Bird Watching**

There was only so much you could do on a six-hour plane flight, even if you had the luxury of sitting in the comfy First Class seats with the slightly better entertainment systems than the Economy seats. Besides, Dugal wasn't much for games or in flight movies. The movies were a terrible bore, and his prosthetic hand made playing games a clumsy and frustrating experience.

And a bored mind was usually prone to thinking about things better left in the forgotten dust of the past. Eyes closed even though he was completely awake, Dugal furrowed his brow as the usual freakish memories came back to harass him.

Flashbacks. It was the same flashback that returned to him time and time again like an unhealthy obsession. He was back at the Air Force Academy, jogging with his roommate in the first semester of his Junior year. His name was either Kevin or Steven or Dan; one of the common names. Dugal didn't really know why he couldn't remember his name clearly even though he had been his roommate – maybe it was because his roommate had turned into something so monstrous that his brain could no longer admit that he had been a real human being. Maybe his mind just wanted to forget…

Dugal had been jogging with his roommate who may have been named Kevin. Every weekend he would jog with somebody to stay in shape, and that weekend it had been Kevin. That weekend Kevin had turned into a monster and died.

It had been a sight that would stick in his mind forever and ultimately lead him to be the head of Talon Three. Kevin had suddenly collapsed onto the sidewalk, screaming about something wrong with his hand. As soon as Dugal had taken a step towards him to see if he was all right, Kevin had twisted like a contortionist and had held out his palms to the sky. There on his right hand was a glassy black shard with red engravings stuck into his flesh. The black color appeared to drip across his skin and spidered through him until he was completely black himself.

Where Kevin had once been, a large shadowy creature had replaced him. Its head was surrounded by stringy protrusions, and its face was completely flat except for where the glowing red engravings that were similar to the ones on the shard covered it. The monster was hunched over by the weight of its head, but Dugal had soon learned that it was deceptively quick from the way it launched itself towards him. The monster had lashed out with its large, terrible claws, sending Dugal back and giving him a large gash across his chest.

No sooner had it attacked than it disappeared with smoke and a tormented howl from being exposed to sunlight.

The image had haunted him for weeks.

_But who would believe something like that? _

Well, there had been one man who Dugal had run into shortly after the incident. His memory was fuzzy, which wasn't surprising considering he had been shocked into a panic after seeing that horrible transformation. It was frustrating, considering it was the part two minutes _after_ the incident he wanted to recall clearly, not the incident itself.

A fellow cadet had passed by, wondering what all the commotion was about. Dugal could never clearly recall what the cadet had looked like – he might've even been a lieutenant. The only thing he remembered clearly was the conversation.

"Is everything all right?" the cadet had asked with a hint of worry. "Whoa, what happened to you?"

"Yes, I mean no! My roommate… my _friend_… Dan, no, Kevin? No, that doesn't matter! He… he…"

"Whoa, calm down. Slowly explain what happened."

"There was a black shard… he turned into a monster. I mean, no, you wouldn't believe me. _No one would believe me_."

"I believe you. Really."

But by that time Dugal had been running in the other direction, his mind muddled from what he had seen and the pain from the attack distracting him. The weeks that followed made him regret his decision of not paying attention to the cadet – the lieutenant colonels and the upper brass he had once given mild problems for being rebellious pegged him as responsible for Kevin's disappearance. They never officially blamed him, but it was obvious what they thought and they didn't care about the lack of thorough investigation. They had wanted to get rid of him from the Academy, that much was certain.

He should have paid more attention to that one person who had bluntly admitted he believed him. Sometimes he wondered if his memory about the cadet was messed up, as he'd never found that cadet again.

"_I believe you. Really." _

No, it was probably someone his brain had made up. After all, the cadet had _laughed_ after he'd said that. What kind of person would laugh after seeing someone with a large gash across their stomach and in an obvious state of trauma? That made no sense.

It had been a knowing, sinister sort of laugh with no sense of the seriousness of the situation.

Almost mocking, almost joking.

Ha, that cadet couldn't have existed.

XXXXXXXXXX

"What are you up to, boy?"

Loze watched with mild puzzlement as Dark scurried around the kitchen while trying to avoid anything reflective. The dark haired Link turned his head momentarily before ducking behind a counter top. Loze frowned, tilting his head as Dark's hand waved a plate from behind the counter. "Doing the chores like I'm s'posed to." Dark stalked over to the silver refrigerator, and then yelped when he looked into the reflection. Loze brought a hand up to his face when Dark tripped over himself from trying to hurry away from the fridge.

"You know what, I'll take care of cleaning up today," Loze sighed, looking at the very flustered Dark on the floor. "You and Gale were actually well-behaved these past few months. I'll give you a break."

Dark gawked incredulously. "R-really?"

"Only because you look like you'll destroy this place if I keep you here any longer." Loze ushered him away from the kitchen. "Now scram, and maybe soak your head over cold water. You look like a ghost is following you."

_Maybe because a ghost IS following me,_ Dark grumbled to himself. At the same time, he was pretty happy that he was dismissed from Loze's chores. Maybe that creepy eyeball had some uses.

He shuddered. On second thought, he much preferred it if it left him alone. Now that he knew that it was there, he couldn't help but notice it everywhere anytime he passed something remotely reflective. It didn't help that it seemed to enjoy watching him squirm – a little bit of Vaati had definitely rubbed off on it. Sometimes, Dark could swear it purposely jumped in front of the mirror so he could get a good look at it. Going to the bathroom in the mornings was the worst, since the eye would try to spook him by popping up in front of the mirror while he was shaving. At least school wasn't in session yet: otherwise he'd have embarrassing questions on why he had nicks along his face.

Dark stuffed his hands into the very large pockets of his jeans where he kept most of his important things; like his collection of bobby pins, a screwdriver, the mirror Vaati had given him, and his new grappling hook. He also had a switchblade, which he brought out now. "Today, you stupid eyeball, I'm going to be victorious over you," he grinned.

Dark imagined a little breeze of air that he had noticed was the invisible eye's way of huffing indignantly. He stood victoriously in front of the locked door of Vaati's room, which he was determined to break into this afternoon. His moment of triumph was quickly interrupted when a very uncomfortable chill suddenly afflicted the back of his neck.

"Augh, stop that! Creep!" The teen swatted his hands around the back of his neck until the chill went away. He couldn't see it, but he imagined the little eyeball had latched onto his neck. Leaving things up to imagination was sometimes worse than actually seeing what had happened. "Ugh, I hate this."

There was another small breeze from somewhere next to his shoulder. This time, it came as a series of puffs – the eye-bat was probably laughing at him.

"Yeah, we'll see who's laughing when I'm done with this," Dark scowled. He brought out his mirror and aimed it towards the door so he could see the invisible sentries that guarded the door.

There were three of them, little purple Cyclops spheres with two horns sticking out of the top of their heads and flying around the door with their leathery bat wings. Come to think of it, they reminded Dark of what Vaati looked like in the Four Swords game: did that mean the sorcerer really looked like that?

A larger eye the size of a beach ball was lodged in the middle of the door and it followed his every move eerily. There was a large lock behind the bigger eye and it kept the door closed with magical chains.

Dark fearlessly reached over to the doorknob and tried to push it open even though he knew it probably wouldn't budge. He was right. "So I guess I have to get rid of this middle eye, right?" he sneered. Taking his pocketknife, he checked where the large eye was with the mirror. He brought it down onto the eye, but just before it reached the door it did something funny. The knife curved downwards as though a hand had nudged it downwards just before it reached the door.

Dark stared at the knife stuck on the floor's carpet in confusion. He bit his cheek in annoyance when there were a series of air puffs around him. Looking into the mirror, he could see the sentry eyes wiggling with hilarity: they were surprisingly expressive considering they were only flying eyeballs. Growling, Dark tried again with the same results. He repeatedly tried to attack the lock for a while, even resorting to throwing it at the door, before he took a moment to think as his efforts weren't getting him anywhere.

There was a small puff of air by his shoulder. Gritting his teeth in frustration, Dark smacked the area by his shoulder with his left hand that was holding onto the mirror. "Shut up!"

Dark was surprised when there was a very audible squeak next to his shoulder where he thought the invisible eye had been. It was close to what a rubber duck might sound like if an unrelenting boot stepped on it. Dark hurriedly brought the mirror up and scanned around the area. Finally, he spotted a dazed eye-bat rolled over on the floor. He stared at it for a little while until it blinked awake and flew up to his face huffily. "You can't go through this mirror…" he observed, ignoring the little creature that was buzzing around his head angrily.

The little eye's pupils widened with his words, and it shrunk away from Dark who was now wearing a very evil grin that would have impressed even Vaati. Dark tapped the edge of the white mirror against his finger, and then took a good swing at the little eye like he was hitting a tennis ball. There was another urgent squeak and Dark cackled to himself as the thing flew through Vaati's door over to the other side. Dark narrowed his eyes and considered the remaining three. "I think I know what I have to do now."

Before the other sentry eyes could react, Dark swiftly knocked all of them through the door of Vaati's room. Once they were all gone, the largest eye in the middle snapped close and completely disappeared. All that was left was the lock that the eye had been guarding. Now that the eye was gone, Dark could see a circular indentation that was just about the same size as the mirror he was holding.

Dark frowned, and then looked at his mirror skeptically. "Vaati gave this to me." He squinted at the lock that was visible through the mirror. "If this mirror is the key to opening this door, then it's almost as though Vaati wanted me to break into his room." Dark scratched his head, "but then why go through all of that trouble of locking it in the first place?"

Shrugging, he figured he would figure it out sooner or later once he broke into the sorcerer's room. Dark pushed the mirror into the indentation, and sure enough the magical lock vanished and the door shifted open. Taking a deep breath, Dark pushed it open completely and flicked on the lights.

At first glance, there wasn't anything out of the ordinary in Vaati's room. Dark quickly scanned the room for anything unusual, but there weren't any. His eyes landed on the dark screen of Vaati's desktop computer. He tensed.

_Vaati was using the computer a lot recently._

Dark made his way over to the computer, ignoring the lone sentry eye that was rolled over on the floor. He could see it clearly from the full body mirror hanging on the closet door, and it appeared the rest of the sentries had vanished. The remaining one was most likely the one Vaati had stuck on Dark before he'd left.

"Aw shucks. Of course it's password protected."

Dark sighed and rested his chin on his hands as the computer requested a password to log on to Vaati's account. He didn't know what the password was, and even though Dark was talented with getting past locks, hacking for a security code was beyond his expertise. He thought about the mirror again and scratched his head.

Did this mean that Vaati wanted him to see something else?

Dark grumbled to himself. _Did Vaati even want me to come here at all?_

By this time, the sentry eye had gotten up and was flitting around nervously behind Dark's shoulder. It was staring pointedly at his back with a slightly offended look from being smacked around earlier.

"You wouldn't happen to know the password, would you?" Dark asked the thing, but not really expecting a response. Therefore, he was surprised when the eye gave him a wide, critical stare as though it were trying to decide if he was worth helping. Then, it flittered out of the view of the mirror and Dark felt a cool pocket of air next to his right hand. Bringing his palm mirror up, he saw that the eye-bat was flying over his hand and watching the computer screen intently.

"Fuu!" The eye suddenly exhaled some air.

"Foo'? Are you calling me a fool?" Dark's expression twisted, bewildered. "You some ghetto eye or something?"

With a glare similar to something Vaati might make, the little eye flew over to the keyboard and moved over the letters:

F. U. U.

"Oh. Fuu." Dark blinked. "Wait, are you telling me the password?"

The creature's single eye curled so that it looked like it was grinning. It added more letters to what it had started.

F. U. U. C. K. Space. U. Space. H. A. H. A. H. –

_WHAP. _

"Squeak!"

"You little Vaati wannabe twit! Think again if you think you're so high and mighty just because you're invisible! Don't forget that I can do _this_ now that I have this mirror!"

Dark brought the mirror down onto the little eye-bat to squeeze it against the desk. It would have made a fantastic lesson to the creature, except instead of being squeezed it was simply whacked through the desk. Several seconds later, it floated back up and stared at Dark, halfway embedded in the desk and sulking gloomily.

Shaking his head irritably, Dark stood up and decided to look elsewhere in Vaati's room for clues about what the wind mage had been up to. Just as he'd stood up, however, there was a chill in his face and he jumped backwards in surprise. "What the, oh not you again! Stop bothering me!" The teenager waved his mirror in front of his face at the sentry eye that had flown up to his nose. The creature frantically dodged the mirror, and flew back towards the keyboard of the computer. Dark had half a mind to smack it senseless, but stopped himself when he noticed the little eye was looking at him grudgingly. It rolled its single eye, and then quickly zipped around the keyboard over certain letters. This time, it read:

F. U. U. J. I. N. D. 4. R. K. M. 1. R. R. 0. R. 4.

"Fuujind4rkm1rr0r4?" Dark slowly sat back down and furrowed his brows at the sentry eye that was now floating next to his shoulder. The teen sighed, and then began to type in what the eye had told him. He stopped halfway through, and began again. " Fuu-jin Dark Mirrors. The last number isn't supposed to be four if I'm guessing this right."

There was a puff of air signifying the eye-bat's approval.

"That means the password is fuujind4rkm1rr0r$."

He pressed the Enter key and waited.

_Loading settings._

"Got it!" Dark slapped his hand across the desk triumphantly, and then he moved the mirror so he could see the little eye-bat. It had moved over next to the computer screen and had its back to him. Its wings were wrapped around itself resentfully. Dark grinned. "Haha, you can be kind of cute when you're not annoying me." He turned to look at the desktop. "Now let's see… huh? What in Farore's name… ?"

There was absolutely nothing on the desktop except the trash bin and a folder. The folder was sitting smack in the middle of the screen so that it was impossible to ignore, and its name caught Dark's attention: "4Dark ."

_Weirder and weirder. So Vaati really did want me to come here and look through his computer. But why? Why not just tell me instead of going through this roundabout way?_

Dark shot a glance at the eye-bat who was still sulking. "Just what was your master up to, huh little guy?"

There was a puff of air as the eye-bat sniffed almost haughtily. Dark wasn't going to get any more hints out of it.

"Fine then. Let's see what's in here…"

Clicking the folder opened a window. There were two files, one of them a Word document and the other a dot exe file of an unknown format.

The Word document was called "open-this-first-you-moron." As for the dot exe file, Vaati had named it "took-you-long-enough." Scowling, Dark briefly muttered about how he was going to have a word with the sorcerer the next time he saw him, and then double-clicked the Word file.

Inside the document was a link to Firefox paired with a single sentence that read, "Hints are for you if you search back in time."

Dark followed the link to the internet. "You think you're so fancy with your riddles, huh?" Dark shook his head tiredly, and then moved the cursor over to Vaati's recent search histories. "I'm going to assume this is what you mean."

Dark was quiet for some time as he looked over the search histories. He leaned forward a few times to see if he was reading the words correctly.

Almost all of the searches had to do with Talon Three.

"Don't tell me you've gotten involved with them again," Dark whispered. The last few searches included "Talon Three," "Halstead Dugal," "Dugal," "Halstead," "Avilux I," and "Talon Four." He got a sick feeling to his stomach when he thought of something.

_This doesn't prove it, but someone from Talon Three must have approached you recently. _Dark remembered the day Vaati had started acting sketchy after he'd returned from lunch. _They offered you something, didn't they?_

Dark scrolled around for more searches, and his feeling of dread increased when he saw that Vaati had avidly searched for topics relating to California, the West Coast, and temples. Putting everything together, he could only come to one conclusion.

That Vaati had left with Talon Three to look for something, perhaps a temple, on the West Coast.

"Damn it, Vaati! You don't want to get involved with them!" Dark slammed his fist down in frustration, startling the sentry eye away from him. "I've already made that mistake…" Dark leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes with a troubled expression. "If you get involved with them, you'll lose everything, don't you know that? Look at what happened with me."

Giving a heavy, tired sigh, Dark leaned forward once again and tapped his hand on the mouse. "All right. Fine. It's obvious you wanted me to know what you've been up to, though I still don't really understand why you're letting me know after you've gone." His expression hardened, and he moved the cursor over to the dot exe file. "I'll be expecting answers soon, Vaati. You better have a good reason for all of this."

What happened next was undeniably spooky. All of the lights flickered off, including the computer monitor. Dark sat stock still in his seat, his hand trailing down to his pockets where he'd kept his pocketknife. Then, there was a faint chime of eight notes and something began to glow in the empty space of Vaati's room. Dark's eyes widened as a glowing, reddish purple seal of an ominous eye drew itself onto the floor. Magical wind circled around the seal, and a bright white light shining from the center of the wind materialized into a wooden chest. When the light show was complete, the lights of the room flickered back on revealing Dark sitting stunned in his chair.

He took a moment to collect himself, and then slowly got up from his seat and tentatively approached the wooden chest that had appeared in the middle of the room. It was a small chest painted a royal blue with gold edges. Dark picked it up carefully, ignoring the sentry eye that had fluttered over to see what he was up to. For some reason the eye appeared happy about the chest.

Dark placed his hand over the chest's lid. _Now what?_

He took a deep breath.

Then, he opened the chest.

XXXXXXXXXX

Vaati sighed, giving a wizened glance at the plane window that he had been asked to close for the duration of the flight. He detested how they required him to shut out his only form of entertainment on the plane – watching the clouds go by – just because a few people on the flight couldn't sleep with the windows open. If it was so bright, couldn't they just wear those ridiculous eye masks that were provided? He'd tried the entertainment system for the first hour, but he didn't have the attention span to play the same repetitive game or watch some stupid, horrible movie for the full six hours of the flight.

He was so, so bored.

He couldn't go to sleep, either, since lowering his attention for even a second next to that dastardly Dugal made his skin prickle. Vaati shot a venomous look towards the man who was stretched out on the seat next to him with his eyes closed. It infuriated him that Dugal could relax while he could not, and he had half a mind to vandalize his expensive suit while the man was asleep.

But he wasn't asleep; Vaati could tell. _The 'Helmaroc King' of Talon Three, hmm? _Vaati thought bitterly. _How appropriate._

The sorcerer had personally known the mythical demon bird thousands of years ago, and in the present day he thought it was ironic how the man he was working with gave him the same feeling of unease as the real Helmaroc King had in the past.

That bird was the devil.

It had been an intelligent and powerful ally, but it feigned loyalty even to the Sorcerer of Winds himself. The monster had listened to him out of respect, but Vaati always watched his back when he was with it: he knew that the Helmaroc was constantly looking for an opportunity to dethrone him as the Lord of the Sky.

Mutual respect was the only thing that kept both of them from destroying each other. It was a similar story with him and Talon's ex-leader right now…

"Would you like some chocolate truffles, sir?"

"Mm?"

Vaati's neck snapped towards the voice. Dugal was completely alert when the stewardess offered the in-flight truffles reserved only for the First Class. He frowned. _See, he wasn't asleep. I knew it._

Dugal waved his hand. "No thank you. Truffles are too fancy for my tastes."

"Uh," the stewardess glanced at his expensive Armani suit, confused. "I see," she said, not really seeing, but saying so out of politeness. "And you, sir?"

Vaati wasn't in the mood for being pleasant and polite, but out of habit he gave his disarmingly graceful smile and took the sweets. He resumed scowling at the seat in front of him when the stewardess hurried away to the next passengers with a blush, and he shoved the truffles aside with little interest.

The sorcerer narrowed his eyes at the screen in the front of the cabin. He could feel the plane gently rock as it gradually descended from its maximum altitude. The estimated time of arrival was earlier than expected, the pilot explained, because of a strong tailwind in the direction of their destination. No one suspected it was all thanks to the wind mage.

_Well…_

Vaati caught Dugal looking up at the screen that he had been watching. The man fixed his collar, reading the wind speed. He gave a sideways glance over to the pale sorcerer next to him. "What a convenient wind," he mentioned.

_Well… no one minus Dugal._

XXXXXXXXX

"Oh no."

"…"

"Oh no."

"…"

"I said: OH NO."

"Thistle, if you want attention you should buy yourself a puppy."

"I'm having a nervous breakdown and that's how you respond? What a frigid heart you have there, Thyme."

"You are not having a nervous breakdown. Your voice inflections are no different from when you are being an impossible prick."

"The least you could do is to ask what I'm 'oh no-ing.'"

"Fine, then what are you 'oh no-ing?'"

"Everyone hates us."

"Cry me a river."

"All the world's eyes are on the United States, and they're not looking at us kindly, mind you. Did you read today's paper?"

"No."

"The US government is being accused of withholding information of the Avilux case, and Wikileaks recently released a highly problematic article of how a few key political figures, including the Secretary of Defense, had been discussing a new technology that would be more effective than a nuclear threat. You can just imagine how the rest of the world reacted to that one."

"Thistle, you know that political drama interests me as much as soap operas interest you."

"But this is the government we're talking about. _Our_ government."

"What, are you offended? I'm surprised…"

"Ohhh, I can't wait to see how our political worms wiggle out of this one kehehehe. Sometimes I think we have the slimiest ones."

"Oh. Never mind. You're just excited about the dirt of politics."

"Kehahahaha! Oh the troubles the Avilux case has caused. Hmmm, the Avilux case… that reminds me, how much do you know about Talon Three?"

"Talon Three? Only as much as anyone else knows; practically nothing."

"Oh please, I know you have a few educated guesses. Even I have a few."

"Educated gue – WHAT? _You?_"

"Mmhmmm. I heard somewhere that they were involved in the Avilux case."

"Well… yes, there's a rumor. But no one has proved that."

"Pffft. A rumor is good enough for me. But listen to this. The government wants them. Bad. Why do you think that is?"

"…"

"Kehihi. From your silence I take it that you know. See, I knew you had a few guesses of your own."

"So? What do you know about Talon Three?"

"They have the key. The key to whatever it was Avilux knew about that could flip the world upside down. Whoever has that knowledge may very well become unstoppable."

"Oh stop it. You're just being dramatic."

"And whoever catches the boss bird in their net –"

"Thistle…"

"- will call Checkmate. Kehahahahaha!"

* * *

fleets: A few notes - So the relationship between Vaati and Helmaroc (the actual bird) is going to be vastly different from the one I implied in my other story Beyond Centuries. In that one, the relationship was really friendly. This time, I'm aiming for one with more tension with Helmaroc being insanely proud and not likely to listen to Vaati easily. Just letting you know if you were confused/surprised. This same change will apply to Rend (when we get there).  
Guess who Dark's tag partner is for this story! XD The fella's name hasn't been mentioned yet, but it will! (note: it is not Fuu, peoples. That character already belongs in purplegc's stories :P).  
Lastly, I don't know if this has been mentioned here yet, but I revealed Thistle and Thyme's design on my deviantart homepage.

**SubZeroChimera:** But for how long will they last? Thistle's comments don't really instill confidence ;3

**TwilightWakerofTime: **Aaaand ahyup, if Thistle's comments are anything to go by, they'll still be chased. :P**  
**

**i-wish-799: **Thanks for the review! :D The Vaati/Dugal dynamic is a little different from Vaati/Link - I've definitely had less practice with it so it'll be interesting to see how it develops. **  
**

**henslight: **I tried to describe the Vaati/Dugal relationship a little more in this chapter. It's not really hate - more like super, super annoyed by each other (but with a degree of respect). What's Zelda without puzzles and treasure chests? XD And, well, the eye's going to follow him for a little longer :P**  
**

**Midna Hytwilian: **Yes. Yes indeed. XD**  
**

**Reily96: **Thyme's just... not as interesting as Thistle (even according to me). Mostly because I'm biased against female characters (LOL). Well, I mean, if I don't have to compete with her for Thistle then that's a different story but since she's kind of in the way, she's not as interesting (smacked). No, you're not a slut. Because that would make me a slut XD**  
**

**msfcatlover: **Other people can see the little guy, too, but (so far) no one's really paid attention to notice. ;) It'll be brought up again though :D**  
**

**Lord Siravant: **Oh haha, nope! Thistle and Thyme won't appear until much later in the story when most of the plot has been revealed. ;)**  
**

**Shadow R-B: **Nah, that couple was just a random couple. Haha yeah, it might be Karma at work there. XD Mmm, sorry, none that I can think of. I'll definitely update when I can! I can't wait until I can reveal more answers to everyone instead of keeping them to myself. :3 And don't worry about forgetting to review ;)  
Whoa there, go and get your sleep! It's luxurious :D**  
**

**jioplip:** Wow thank youuuuuu! (HUGS) You're going to turn me into a blushing tomato if you praise me any more (o/././o)**  
**


	7. The Reversed Emperor

fleets: Argh, I was supposed to update Rend (and I wrote half of it), but after procrastinating this one, I ended up finishing this one faster. Forgive!

* * *

**Chapter 7: The Reversed Emperor**

_The Reversed Emperor_:

_The Reversed Emperor_ is the fifth card. A formidable obstacle stands in the way of _The Magician_. How ominous, how ominous.

XXXXXXXXXXX

"So you're still not going to tell me where we're going."

Dugal barely glanced at Vaati who was looking at him critically. "No. I am not." There was a slight pause as though the man was undecided on whether or not to continue. In the face of sorcerer's scorching expression, Dugal caved. "We are going on another flight, however."

"Another flight," Vaati repeated slowly.

"Yes." There was a hint of a smile on Dugal's normally expressionless face. "You'll be privileged to ride the Gulfstream G650, one of the most exclusive private business jets available and capable of flying trans-Atlantic trips. I believe it's the most technologically advanced plane of its class." He sounded all too happy about this, as though he had secured a date with a celebrity. "It will be roughly another eight hours of flight. I was able to obtain permission to fly this without a crew: there's hardly a thing you can't do as long as you offer the right price."

Vaati made a face, and continued to scowl. One thing he'd noticed about the Talon leader ever since he'd met him during the Avilux mess was that Dugal enjoyed dropping comments implying his outrageous capital; especially those concerned with airplanes.

"Well isn't that nice," the sorcerer replied bitterly. He wasn't in a good mood to begin with, since he didn't like sitting in a chair for six hours next to someone he didn't want to get along with. Then, he began to frown after doing a few mental calculations. "Eight hours?" he asked. Vaati glanced at Dugal, and then frowned. "Wouldn't that place us… at least somewhere close to Japan?"

Dugal only grinned in response.

Vaati crossed his arms over his chest, his expression one of utter frustration. "When am I going to find out just where, exactly, we're going?"

"Patience, Mr. Engst. You will find out in due time."

"Right. You mean when we actually _get_ there, don't you?"

Dugal turned to him with a look of mock approval. "Good work, Mr. Engst! Your deductive abilities are astounding."

"I don't know which was worse – working with Link or working with you," Vaati muttered bitterly. He grappled with the idea of teaching the snob a lesson, but came to the unfortunate conclusion that he couldn't do anything in his current state. He still didn't know anything about their mission, and upsetting the insufferable man with the purple tie would only make it harder to find out more about the mysterious temple. He had wondered if he could threaten the information out of Dugal, but considering the ex-Talon leader's personality, he didn't know if threats would even work. Worst case scenario: Dugal would end up finding a way to turn the situation against him, which Vaati suspected would be the most likely scenario.

Therefore, the sorcerer obediently followed Dugal outside of Seattle Tacoma International Airport where their jet was waiting for them. It was a sleek, white-silver plane with blue lines streaking across its bottom. With its perfect smooth curves and powerful twinjets attached by the tail, the plane just screamed "Executives Only." Dugal climbed up the stairs leading into the plane while Vaati followed him inside.

Okay, so Vaati would admit he was a little impressed. At least Dugal understood the importance of flair. The sorcerer remembered how he had once indulged in extravagancies back in the old days when he had reigned supreme. In the modern age he still felt a little out of place to be as flamboyant, not to mention money wasn't as easy to earn in this day and age. Maybe with a little more time he could live like a king again.

Vaati snickered briefly to himself. _It's so much more complicated now. Power in this era no longer means how much brute force an individual has, but how great an influence he has. What key partnerships, no, alliances, one has. _

"Take any seat that strikes your fancy," Dugal waved his good hand towards the various white-leather armchairs and sofas that were arranged in the interior of the plane. As the man disappeared into the cockpit, Vaati settled down in one of the armchairs. Next to it was a dark wood table with a stereo system that was hidden in a dainty pot of tiger lilies and roses.

_Key alliances hmm? _Vaati reclined, and then smirked to himself. _Well… not a bad start then, even though I don't trust Dugal one bit. _

_Because when did I ever trust the Helmaroc King in the past? Never. And yet he'd turned out to be an invaluable ally. _

XXXXXXXXXX

Dark took a deep breath and opened the chest that had materialized in the middle of Vaati's room. He had half expected some monsters to pop out of the chest and eat him alive for poking around the sorcerer's room, or some twisted joke of a spell would turn him into a rabbit.

It was Vaati. It was totally valid to expect nasty things to happen whenever he was involved.

When Dark peered inside the chest, no monsters or freaky spells came to punish him. Instead, he found a scroll tied together with a maroon ribbon, as well as a glimmering red stone with an engraving of an eye he had come to associate with Vaati. Dark avoided touching the stone out of caution, and instead untied the scroll to read its contents. As his eyes moved across the words, he felt himself grow increasingly infuriated.

_Dearest Dark,_ it began, written with a cursive that made it look as though the words themselves were sneering at him, _I hope you liked my little present._

Dark's eyes narrowed. "Yeah. Just fantastic," he muttered sourly. He continued to read:

_If you are reading this, then I have obviously left for my trip to the West where you will not be able to find me. I know you were suspicious of what I was up to for quite some time – don't think I didn't notice. In fact, I wanted you to be suspicious so you would make it your mission to break into my room. _

_At this point you are probably wondering why I am going through this roundabout way of making you figure out my intentions instead of simply telling you everything. That is because, as you have no doubt guessed already, I have been asked to work with the former leader of Talon Three – Halstead Dugal. Otherwise known as "Douche-gal," but I digress…_

_Dugal has turned his interest to a temple located somewhere out West. The fact that he requires my help makes me believe that this temple has magical properties that he can't handle alone. You are aware that I have been searching for a clue to undo the reincarnation curse I have placed on myself, and I want to see if this temple has any of the answers I am looking for. _

_Now, the reason why I didn't tell you anything until after I've left is because I guessed you would have demanded to tag along if you heard I was working with someone from Talon Three. As heartwarming as that is, you would have been a nuisance. Dugal is very guarded about any information regarding the temple, and I need him to think he can trust me (in the most minimal sense possible) for things to go the way I want them to. Additionally, I recognize you have an intense grudge against Talon Three because of your past, and I couldn't trust that you wouldn't do anything foolish if you came with me. I can't risk having any hindrances like you to screw up my plan. _

_At this point you must be wondering why I'm bothering to tell you anything at all, after I've explained my reasons for not telling you anything. That is because this IS Talon Three we're talking about (even though they have disbanded), and I think there's a possibility that you might be at risk for being targeted. From what? I don't know. But it's better to be safe than sorry. _

_Dugal won't tell me anything, but I've noticed that he's incredibly… paranoid… about people following him. Maybe that's what he's like normally, but I'm not too sure about that. I'm sure you recall him mentioning how he was "keeping the government off of our tails" when we met him briefly after the Avilux incident. Considering news these days revolving around the Avilux incident, I wouldn't be surprised if someone powerful (maybe even the government) were still after him (and us for that matter). _

_I guess what I'm trying to say is that you should be cautious. I'm not saying someone will come after you for connections with Talon Three and Avilux, but it's possible._

_Scratch that, I'm almost convinced that you will encounter suspicious activity after seeing how jumpy Dugal is about keeping things secretive. He's scrambling, and when someone is scrambling, it usually means their enemy is very, very close…_

_Dugal may have been perfect about hiding his trail. At the same time, I've never seen him as edgy as he is now. _

_I wouldn't worry too much about Loze. Whoever "they" are, "they" won't be going after him. They would go after you. Watch your back, and I humbly apologize for not telling you anything up until now. _

Dark took a moment to look up from the scroll to calm himself. His fingers were shaking with anger, and it took all of his self-control not to rip the paper in hundreds of tiny pieces. How dare Vaati leave without him? How dare he think he would have been a nuisance? Okay, so Vaati was right about pretty much everything – like how Dark would have given Dugal trouble – but still! It wasn't right for Vaati to just go off on his own like that without telling him anything! And to top it all off, he'd left with that unnerving message of "Oh by the way, you might be fucked," like an irresponsible afterthought.

Between his fuming, he noticed the eye-bat watching the ruby stone the size of a quarter with mild curiosity out of the corner of his eye. He'd forgotten all about it in his moment of fury. Calming himself, Dark observed the eye-bat's reflection in the mirror hanging from the wall. The thing circled the stone in the chest, occasionally poking it with its wing. To Dark's surprise, the stone in the chest moved when the invisible eye-bat touched it.

Apparently the eye-bat wasn't able to move through it like it could with nearly everything else.

Slowly, Dark looked back down at the parchment in his hands. He hadn't finished reading it. Sighing, he began to read through the second half of Vaati's letter that mentioned something about the stone in the chest:

_As an extra precaution, I have decided to leave you with one of my trusted sentries. I got the idea when you noticed the sentry eyes that I had posted in front of my room. Since you are reading this now, I know you have figured out that they are visible with the help of reflective surfaces, and that they are unable to pass through mirrors. This is because they are a purely magical entity, and magical force has a tendency to be reflected by mirrors. It is a property of magic to be deflected when it encounters reflective surfaces (I suggest you keep that in mind, just in case you ever need to use this knowledge for whatever purposes). _

_The stone that I have included in the chest contains some of my magical signature. Normally, these special sentries will only be visible without the help of a mirror by the sorcerer who had conjured them. However, if you are in possession of the stone with my insignia, you will also have the privilege of harnessing their power. _

Dark furrowed his brows after reading the sentence. Cautiously, he reached over and picked up the red stone. Immediately, he saw the previously invisible eye-bat blink into existence. When the eye noticed him staring, it flew up to his face mischievously in an attempt to startle him.

Dark flinched backwards, and then waved the thing away irritably. "Thing's got a troublesome personality," he shook his head. He watched the eye fly rapidly around him happily. "Well at least I don't have to find where you are with a mirror now."

The eye stopped in front of Dark mid-circle. It spun in place haughtily, and then settled down by the last few sentences of the letter. It looked as though it wanted Dark to finish reading. Grumbling a little to himself, Dark finished reading:

_Now that you have the stone, you will be able to use the sentry as it is supposed to be used: a sentry. Give the command, "Grant me sight," and you will be able to see whatever it can see. You will also be able to instruct it telepathically regarding where you would like it to go. The magical sentry is far more sophisticated than any spying technology that currently exists. _

_Further more, the sentry is also capable of communicating. This is, however, rather rare. It will not speak unless it feels it is absolutely necessary. I could be wrong, however, since the sentries are capable of having an attitude. Perhaps a trace of my own character finds its way into them – who knows? _

_I believe that is all I have to say regarding the stone and the sentry. I hope you find good use for them. _

_Wish me luck. _

_Sincerely, _

_Vaati, the Sorcerer of Winds. _

_P.S. The sentry will not respond unless you call it by its name. This is to ensure that it will not confuse commands directed towards it with slips in conversation. _

_You will call your sentry by its name, "Master." Enjoy your new company. _

"Master?" Dark gawked, and then looked at the eye-bat questioningly.

At the mention of its name, the eye curled so that it looked like it was smiling with approval.

Dark scoffed. "There's no way I'm going to be calling you 'Master.' You need a new name."

At this, the eye ceased smiling and its gaze hardened. There was a very audible huff from it, instead of the little puffs of air Dark had grown accustomed to notice. If the thing had a nose, Dark figured it would have snorted disdainfully by now.

"Stupid Vaati. He purposely named you Master knowing what I would have to go through, didn't he…"

The eye laughed loudly. Now that Dark was in possession of Vaati's stone, he could hear every part of the sentry's voice. The laugh was deep and almost menacing; something you might expect from an evil overlord. It was an unexpected laugh coming from something so… squeaky-looking.

Dark was not amused. He was definitely not going to be calling the stupid creepy thing "Master." Rolling his eyes, he looked at the letter again. "Hmm, so you can act as a spy for me as long as I command you."

The sentry stopped laughing and turned to Dark expectantly. It's disproportionately large eye was fixed on his face, and for a moment, the teen thought that the damned thing could be as adorable as a baby seal if it weren't for that huffy attitude.

"Want to try being my sentry?" Dark asked.

The eye blinked once in confirmation.

"Okay then. Well, go on and do your thing."

The two stared at each other for a few seconds. The eye didn't budge. Then, Dark frowned.

"So I really have to say, 'grant me sight,' huh?" he scratched his head, shrugging. "Fine. Then grant me sight."

The eye considered him coldly.

Dark threw his hands up in the air. "Oh give me a break. Do I really have to call you Master? You can't even talk."

The eye stiffened a little, but all it did was blink again as though to nod. The two sat glowering at each other for a few seconds before Dark looked away. A devious flicker passed over his face, and he rubbed his chin contemplatively.

"All right I give in. I'll call you Master, BUT," he raised a finger, stopping Master before it got too happy about it, "under the condition that I can give you a last name."

Master appeared to consider this for a few minutes, eyeing Dark with suspicion. Then, after deliberation, it settled onto the desk and wrapped its wings around itself with apparent satisfaction. Between its wings, Dark could see the eye watching him expectantly to see what it was that the teen had in mind.

Dark sneered. "Well, since we're in agreement, it's nice to meet you, Master-bates."

"DENIED!"

Dark rolled over laughing as the Master Bates entered a fit of hysteria. The eye flitted around angrily, repeating the word 'denied' with its resonating, 'evil-overlord' voice.

"What do you mean, denied? It's not like I tricked you, 'Master-bates.'" Dark snickered horribly. Master fumed in what could have been a terrifying rage, but wasn't terrifying because of its small size. It proved to be quite talkative as it entered a rant.

"You shall address me only by the name which has been given by the great Vaati himself. I will not answer to such a defiling, wretched name fit for uncouth heathens," Master rambled. It became more infuriated when it saw Dark laugh even more with its speech. "How dare you convulse with merriment at the expense of my dignity?"

"Convulse with… Hahaha! Oh goddesses, you talk so weird!"

"Perhaps a mere ancestor of apes will not understand my sagacious vocabulary."

Dark struggled to contain himself. "Does Vaati even understand what you're saying, Master Bates?" He snickered for several seconds while the eye glared in offense.

"I am not fit to speak in His presence." Master narrowed its eye. If looks could kill, Dark would have died a horrible death. "And do not address me as such, infidel."

Dark was already dying from laughter. Mid-hiccup, he grinned and managed to find enough breath to answer. "I'm willing to compromise, then."

"No."

"Okay then, Masturbates."

"… Fine. I shall indulge you."

"I'm willing to call you Bates instead."

Master opened his wings, wide. "I shall answer to no such thing."

Dark shrugged. "It's either that or your full name."

A small tremor shot through Master's tomato-sized body as it shook with suppressed frustration. The magical creature zipped back and forth across the room, trying to think of the best conclusion to the situation. Finally, after a few passes around the room, the sentry's eye flashed a fiery red. "Fine, you ingrate! From this day forth I give you permission to address me by that undesirable name, Bates!"

"Oh good," Dark grinned. His grin was short-lived, however, when he noticed the vision of his left eye was doing something strange. His vision was melding and swirling, and flashing in crazy neon colors. "What the…"

Disoriented, Dark grabbed the edge of Vaati's bedpost. Bates appeared to sneer, and flitted in front of his nose. The sentry's eye was still glowing a bright red.

Suddenly, he realized to his shock that he was staring at his own face. At least, that's what his left eye saw. And in that image he saw of himself in his left eye, he saw that his left eye was glowing, _glowing_, the same unnatural ruby as Bates' glowing eye. Unnerved, Dark took a step away from Bates, only to become more disoriented from seeing himself back away in his left eye.

Bates cackled. To make things worse, and probably as a payback to Dark, the sentry whirled around in place.

"Agh! Stop that, idiot!" Dark shut his eyes closed. "Useless!" he clenched his fist around the stone from the chest, and threw it against the wall where it plopped onto the ground. Bates disappeared as soon as the stone left his fingers, but he could still imagine the thing's devious laugh ringing in his ears.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Ariko, New Jersey, in a little side street less than a block away from Loze's Pizzeria, was a spiffy black Audi parked under the shade of the trees by the sidewalk. Sitting in the driver's seat was an Asian man wearing a sharp suit and blue tie. He fiddled around with a small device that was propped on his lap, and several times he pushed his sunglasses up the bridge of his nose. A laptop computer was also opened next to the man with the display showing a slew of numbers and code that made perfect sense only to him. There was a window on the display screen showing some sort of satellite image of the street he was on. The Audi was visible, as well as the pizzeria.

Kestrel bit his cheek as he did a few last minute adjustments to the dials on the device, tweaked the antenna a little, and then broke into a smile when he was satisfied. He tapped the earpiece hooked onto his left ear. "All right, we're online. It's all yours, Hawk."

There was a slightly static buzz from the earpiece, and then Hawk's deceptively youthful, yet dangerously frigid voice came through. "Roger. Fifteen seconds for target clearance. Do not fail."

Kestrel grinned and began to count the seconds on his wristwatch. His dark eyes gleamed behind his sunglasses. "Talon never fails."

XXXXXXXXXX

Dark sat cross-legged on the carpet, annoyed by the little invisible creature that was now named 'Bates.' He'd picked up the stone again, and it was now placed in front of him. Bates, meanwhile, was flying around the room and cautiously observing "Lord Vaati's" possessions. Dark could occasionally see it flying in front of the mirror.

Looking back on it, Dark didn't know why he decided to pick up the stone again and direct Bates to sneak a peek downstairs where the pizzeria was. Maybe it was instinct – that unidentifiable sense of unease that something wasn't right with the world.

The feeling that everything normal in life was going to come to a sudden and abrupt end.

Whatever the reason was, Dark picked up the stone in front of him one more time. "Hey, Bates."

Bates stopped exploring around the room. It hovered over Dark's head so that it could look down on him huffily.

"Grant me sight."

Bates looked at him with surprise, and then obliged. Instantly, Dark's left eye and Bates' eye began to glow red. Dark was prepared this time and didn't freak out from being able to see through the sentry.

"Show me what's happening downstairs," he whispered.

There was a mental nudge just as Bates obliged and flew through the door. "_You can simply think your commands, imbecile." _

As the sentry flew between the walls of the house, Dark tried to get used to the idea of not flinching when it looked like he was going to hit a solid object. Sometimes it was all too easy to forget that Bates could float through them.

Dark held his breath when Bates reached the entrance of the pizzeria. He couldn't really make out voices with the sentry eye, but the sight was enough to make him feel increasingly uneasy. Two men in business suits were speaking with Loze over the counter, and from the looks of it they weren't there to order pizza. One of them briefly held out a card of some kind, and even though Dark couldn't see what it was from his angle of view, it was clear enough that the two men were here to inspect something.

And it wasn't to inspect pizzas…

Good old Loze tried to stop them from going upstairs, being the grouchy old man he was as always. Dark watched the scene for a few more seconds before he shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut. _Bates, come back!_

With mild panic that was steadily increasing as he heard footsteps moving up the stairs, Dark hurried to his room and locked the door shut. The mention in Vaati's letter about the possibility of people coming after him clogged his mind until that was all he could think about.

_They're here for me. Already!_

Dark's eyes whizzed over his belongings, judging if there was anything he absolutely had to take with him in the event he had to make an escape. Bates watched Dark pacing around the room with some puzzlement.

"It did not seem like those two gentlemen wanted to harm your person," the eye mentioned.

Dark whirled around. "I don't trus – "

The teen was interrupted by a shout. It was followed by footsteps rushing back down the stairs. Then, Dark was thrown off of his feet by a sudden, violent explosion that bent the door to his room inwards. Wood and debris splintered everywhere – some sort of bomb had gone off in the hallway of the second floor just as the two men had walked up the stairs.

"They don't want to 'harm my person,' huh?_!_ A _small bomb just blew up in my house!"_ Dark shouted through the din. Bates simply hovered in place, the explosion not affecting it.

"I do not believe it was those gentlemen, but – "

Dark wasn't able to hear the rest of Bates' comment, because at that moment someone snuck behind him and roughly covered his nose with a cloth. He got a whiff of chloroform, and he clawed at consciousness for the next ten seconds before he blacked out.

Bates watched the entire scene with little concern. After all, it wasn't his problem if the invalid that Lord Vaati had assigned him to got into trouble. He just had to worry if Dark died, and at the moment it didn't look like he was going to.

It appeared the man had broken in through the window of Dark's room during the confusion caused by the explosion. The small blast had been enough to push the window frames outwards just enough for him to get it to release the locks and open the windows. Bates wondered if it had been chance that the explosion had worked so much in favor for breaking in, or if it had been carefully planned from the beginning…

With Dark slung over his shoulder like a potato sack, the man brushed his blond hair away from his face and moved to the window again while pressing a button on his earpiece. "Kestrel, get ready to drive. I'll see you in exactly eight seconds."

There was a chuckle on the other end. "See you soon. Wasn't that bomb perfect? Those government fools never saw it coming."

Hawk glanced behind him for a fraction of a second. Ah yes, the government. What he and Kestrel were doing was incredibly risky – a game of professionals against… one of the best professionals in the world. Couple that with the fact that he and Kestrel weren't really professionals anymore with the disbanding of Talon Three made this entire mission close to suicidal.

Still, their honor as men was at stake. In the name of Talon Three…

Hawk shook his head sadly, looking at the face of the dark haired teen that he had worked with briefly during their confrontation with Harrier. "Sorry about having to meet you like this again, kid."

And with that, he slipped out of the window. He didn't know that the invisible sentry Bates was following and watching his every move.

XXXXXXXXXX

Vaati was sitting in one of the many luxurious couches of the spacious galley when there was a buzz from the intercom. He reached over the chocolate colored desk for the remote to mute the volume coming from the thirty-two inch plasma TV in front of him.

"Mr. Engst, would you kindly do me a favor and look out the window? Any window will do, and please tell me what you see."

The sorcerer frowned, taking a glass of wine that was sitting next to him. There was a certain tension in Dugal's voice, like a taught wire about to snap. It wasn't like the normally smooth man at all.

It creeped him out a little.

Taking a sip of Bourdeaux, Vaati slowly turned around to take a look outside the circular windows of the plane. He squinted, shielded his eyes a few times from the white glare of the sun, took another sip of wine, and took another good look. He stared at the view for five long seconds, and then downed his whole glass crudely.

He tried to convince himself that maybe he'd had one too many glasses of wine.

After all, his eyes were telling him that Air Force class fighter jets were closing in on them from both sides of the plane.

"If you would please confirm that there are fighter jets accompanying us, Mr. Engst," Dugal's voice repeated a little more insistently this time.

At the sound of his voice, Vaati jumped up from his seat and ran to the cockpit where Dugal was calmly staring in front at the blue expanse of sky. "Why are there fighter jets here?_!_" Vaati demanded.

"Ah. I see. So they weren't joking."

"What do you mean, 'they weren't joking?'"

Dugal sighed, and cracked the knuckles of his good hand. "The United States government would like us to be escorted to the nearest American base by these fighter jets. I received a message a few minutes ago, and I chose to ignore it."

"What?_!"_

"It appears they were quite serious about sending fighter jets," Dugal drawled on. "It seems a little overkill to send those powerful planes to escort a simple transportation plane, don't you think? Who knew they would be so persistent."

Vaati's mouth flattened into thin lines, but he didn't say anything and instead waited expectantly. To him, it sounded like Dugal had a few trump cards to pull through in the event of an emergency. The man appeared surprised, but not surprised to the extent of defeat.

To confirm the sorcerer's thoughts, Dugal nodded. "I'm not worried about dealing with the fighter jets. We should be more than capable of handling them." He paused when there was static from the radio.

There was a broken voice, "Shhzzzt… Do you copy?... bzzt… confirm peaceful escort to… shhhzzt…"

Dugal sighed heavily and stared at the radio critically as though it had committed a dire crime. "What I _am_ worried about is how they managed to follow us all the way out here." He tilted his head, deep in thought about this "impossible outcome."

Vaati sneered. "Perhaps you're not as perfect as you think you are."

"Nonsense." Out of the corner of his eye, Dugal watched the grey, bullet-like jets that were now flying along side the Gulfstream. They were elegant in their deadliness. Dugal's face darkened, and he smiled contemptuously. "I believe now is the time I could use your assistance, Mr. Engst."

The sorcerer observed the fighter jets for a few more minutes. They ignored the urgent message coming through the radio. Then, Vaati stretched his arms and loosened them up. He grinned devilishly. "Hehe… What should I do with them, do you think?"

* * *

fleets: Drawing of Dark and Bates (aka Master) is up on devart :D

**Midna Hytwilian:** One thing's for sure, that cadet isn't a trivial nobody I just happened to stick in there. :P Bates isn't as cute as Fuu though XD. Thanks Middy!

**Purplegc: **I thought you'd like that 'tag team.' Part of me wondered what it would be like if Bates met Fuu (I suspect Fuu might be bullied, and then later surprise Bates with retaliation lol). He's not as cute as Fuu haha. Where oh where is Condor, right? I haven't forgotten about him... Thistle for president! Oh man, what a disaster that would be XD**  
**

**SubZeroChimera: **Haha yeah. He's got the attention span of an ant... though he can be deceptively clever at times (on those rare occasions). All I'll say to that is that Vaati reincarnates every time he dies, so whatever his lifespan is for that particular life. ;)**  
**

**dark digidestined: **Hmm, you think so? ;) Thanks!**  
**

**msfcatlover: **He does sound like him, doesn't he? XD lol I don't know if Bates would appreciate that very much. He's pretty arrogant (just like his master...)**  
**

**jioplip: **Yayy, thanks for enjoying this so far! :D I offered a few answers, but what fun would it be if I didn't include more questions in this chapter? It's going to be a long story... :)**  
**

**i-wish-799: **I have a lot of fun trying to find opportunities to connect the past and present events (hence why I also like including easter eggs in a lot of stories). Thanks!**  
**

**Shadow R-B: **Haha sorry about the cliffies. I try (so you guys'll keep coming back for more muahaha). It's implied he turned into a Twili creature. That won't be the last time that episode will be mentioned, for sure. Huh, you're right! There's a lot more stuff going on in the beginning of this story than Avilux... hmmm...**  
**


	8. The Amber Alert

fleets: It's that time of year again... EXAMMMS. Therefore, this was written while brain was (is) in mildly trauma-ed state. LOL.

* * *

**Chapter 8: The Amber Alert**

"Hehe… What should I do with them, do you think?"

Vaati was excited about the prospect of blowing things up and scaring people senseless. It had been _way_ too long ago since he had last done that sort of thing. Therefore, he was more than a little disappointed when Dugal tapped his finger along the control panel and said, "Oh, just remove them from the area please. Avoid destroying them, even though I know that's your specialty."

Vaati's face fell. "That's it? You mean like, just warp them out of here?"

"Precisely." Dugal raised an eyebrow slowly when he saw the sorcerer appearing annoyed by his answer. It arched in the way someone finding a caterpillar on his piece of lettuce removes said lettuce from his plate. "I don't want to declare war on the country with the greatest military power in the world, Mr. Engst. Do you?"

"Fine," Vaati grumbled, still somewhat unconvinced. _I should have given more thought when I wished to be the most powerful sorcerer in the world. I should have wished to be the most powerful sorcerer in the world 'impossible to defeat by any means in any circumstance.' _

What good was it to be the most powerful sorcerer in the world when there weren't many opportunities to gloat about it?

Vaati walked back to the galley and leaned forward towards one of the circular windows where he could get a better look at all of the fighter jets. Dugal suspected there were a total of six following them. Sure enough, when Vaati walked around the galley, he counted a total of six fighter jets: three on each side of the plane and spread apart in a neat formation. Vaati walked back to the center of the plane, took a bored little sigh, and spread both arms out on either side of him. He closed his eyes and concentrated.

It was a little harder then he'd thought at first, since the plane's walls separated himself from the targets outside. He was a Wind Mage; wind magic relied heavily on having free contact with the air he wanted to manipulate. There were a few miniscule gaps between the plane's walls with the air outside that allowed him to control the wind around the jet planes; that isn't to say this was all very complicated for him.

Dugal thought this was so easy. What a naïve fool he was. If it weren't the great Sorcerer of Winds attempting this magic, then this wouldn't have been possible.

It took all of two minutes when the fighter jets momentarily took on a light blue glow and then vanished into thin air. Done with the lame work, Vaati lazily went back to the cockpit and leaned against the door. "There, satisfied?"

"Sure." Dugal nodded. "You can go back now. We'll arrive in roughly half-an-hour."

Vaati pushed himself off the wall and began to go back to the galley to grab a drink. "Finally."

Dugal's voice called back to him just as he was about to leave. "By the way, where did you send those pilots?"

"Oh, them?" A flicker of a mischievous smile played along Vaati's lips. "Somewhere over by the Bahamas. I thought they would appreciate a tropical vacation during this time of year."

XXXXXXXXX

Dark had no bearings on what time of day it was when he regained consciousness. He still felt somewhat woozy from being drugged, but he quickly snapped to attention when he remembered what had happened to him.

A small bomb had gone off in the second floor of his house, and then someone had kidnapped him…

"Bates!" he cried, sitting up hurriedly. The room he was in was so dark that he couldn't quite see where he was, and his senses were ultra-sensitive from precaution, preparing to run away or attack at the slightest hint of danger. He hesitated momentarily when his hands touched a soft mattress, and he frowned when he realized that his kidnappers had placed him kindly on a comfortable bed. "Bates, where are you?_!_" Dark hissed again, his mind now horrified at the possibility that he was a rape victim. He hated how he couldn't come up with another logical answer as to why someone who had bombed his house and kidnapped him would lie him down on a fluffy bed. Oh how he hated his imagination sometimes…

"Yes, infidel?" Bates fluttered into view. It was a little difficult to see him in the dark, but the teen could make out the sentry's silhouette.

Dark gave a sigh of relief. He didn't think he'd come to miss that evil overlord voice. "What happened to me, and where am I? You saw everything didn't you?"

"You were taken captive," Bates hovered in front of his face, "obviously."

"I know that!" Dark snapped. "But what else? What happened while I was unconscious?"

The sentry rolled its single eye. "Nothing much, infidel. The gentlemen escorted you to this place - it was a few hours' drive from your house - and promptly left you in this room. They were quite hospitable, I assure you."

Dark noticed the shape of a lamp next to him and he swatted his hands a few times in its general direction to see if he could find a switch. After finding it, he flipped it on and allowed his eyes to adjust to the light. "I hope 'hospitable' isn't a euphemism for anything," he muttered.

"Whatever can you mean?"

"Never mind." Dark hopped off the bed and took in his surroundings. He was in a small yet cozy room with simple wooden furniture that gave it a homey atmosphere. Even though it was comfortable, the door proved to be locked shut from outside. His captors had left him a glass and a jug of water on the table, as well as a small welcoming note that said, "Enjoy your stay." Somewhere, Dark could imagine someone laughing at him as he picked it up from the table. "You said 'gentlemen,'" he prompted, "what are they like?"

Bates settled down at the edge of the jug and he wrapped his bat wings around himself haughtily. "While it is possible for me to give you a detailed account on the mannerisms and quirks of the gentlemen in question, it will be a whole lot more productive if you saw them for yourself."

Dark snapped his fingers. "You're right! I'd forgotten."

"Typical of an inferior creature."

"Psh. I'd also hate to have to listen to your weird way of talking. You're like… Vaati's arrogance condensed."

"I am not worthy of such compliments."

"That wasn't a compliment, dork." Dark braced himself for the disorienting sensation of seeing through Bates' eye. "Bates, grant me sight."

Immediately, the vision in his left eye swirled momentarily with psychedelic colors before it settled down into something more normal. Still not used to seeing two different visions at the same time, Dark closed his right eye that was still a normal blue color.

Bates flew through the wall and outside Dark's room. The house proved to be small, and it had the feel of a temporary lodging. Most of the place was bare and poorly furnished. There were a few rooms Bates could have gone to, but it seemed the sentry knew where he was going to find the kidnappers. The sentry flew towards the far end of the hallway and went into the room with the open door. Dark tensed when he recognized the two men in the room.

Well, at least one of them.

He saw Hawk bent over his black suit jacket spread out onto a table, meticulously picking out bits of debris from the cloth with a toothpick. His innocent, doe-eyed face was scrunched in concentration as he picked out the dust and placed them in a plastic bag. Dark knew better, however, that Hawk was not as angelic as he appeared to be; he remembered the calculated coolness he had handled the 'disposal' of Harrier in Japan two years ago.

Another man wearing a business suit with a blue tie was sitting cross-legged on a rugged brown sofa, watching the screen of his laptop computer. He appeared to be Asian, maybe Japanese or Korean? His jet-black hair dangled over his face like a lazy mop. Dark was amused that he could see himself on the computer screen – they had placed him on surveillance.

Talon Three: the group that he held a venomous grudge on for being partly responsible for taking his life and throwing it violently upside down. He kind of knew that his grudge was somewhat unreasonable now, but it was hard not to hold disgust when thinking about anything related to them.

The Asian man's mouth moved. It appeared that he was talking, but Dark couldn't hear what was being said.

"Bates, can you relay what they're saying?" He whispered as he watched his own image in the laptop screen. He looked sufficiently creepy with his glowing, crimson eye. It was kind of funny, since the Hawk's partner appeared freaked out by the fact that their hostage's eye had suddenly started glowing demonically.

"_Hawk, I think we're being spied on by the kid," _Bates' voice came through in a form of telepathy. It wasn't exactly like hearing an actual voice through his ear – it was similar to thinking to oneself. Therefore, it wasn't Bates' usual voice that Dark heard, but the actual voices of the speakers themselves. Dark smirked, and Bates continued narrating the conversation.

"_What makes you think that?" _

"_He keeps talking to someone named 'Bates.' He's done that ever since his eyes went all crazy." _

"_Well, we suspected we'd have to deal with something supernatural when we first went into this venture." _

"_And now I can see him smiling. I swear, it's creepy thinking about how we're being spied on instead of the other way around. How? How is he doing it? And who the hell is Bates? Where is he?"_

"_Kestrel, relax. This only proves that we were right about the government's aims." _At this moment, Hawk finished his task of picking out debris from his jacket. He took the plastic bag and dropped it in a suitcase, and then walked over to Kestrel's computer as he put on his jacket. "_Well, Mr. Petrov, we know you can hear us. Allow me to apologize for having to relocate you from your residence." _

Dark smirked. He turned towards the direction where he thought the camera was in his room, and he watched as his face on the computer screen looked directly at Hawk and Kestrel. Hawk and Kestrel tried to hide it, but Dark could tell they were unsettled. "It's Dark, by the way." He swung his body around where he was sitting on the floor so they could see they had his full attention. "It's Hawk, right?"

Hawk nodded. "_It's been a while." _

"I see you're back to your job."

"_You're mistaken there. Talon Three has liquidated."_

"So I've heard. And yet here you are, kidnapping someone like me and wearing that same blue tie and calling each other with those same code names."

"_Old habits die hard, Darkie," _Kestrel interjected, recovered from the initial surprise. Hawk and Kestrel exchanged glances, unspoken communication going between them as though they were deciding if it was all right to speak to Dark further. They were a secretive group after all. Finally, Hawk shrugged.

"_You can say we are… cleaning up after ourselves." _

Dark tensed. "Are you saying you're going to clean me up?"

"_Aha, you're getting the hang of our terminologies,_" Hawk grinned. "_Rest easy. We're not here to get rid of you, though that will depend entirely on how well you behave." _

"If you didn't kidnap me to get rid of me, then why did you bring me here?"

"_You don't have any guesses?" _

"I have a few suspicions, but I want to hear it from you."

With this, the information master of Talon Three laughed. It was soft and disarming, and Dark began to realize why they former group left the information gathering to him more than the others. He could charm the devil to heaven. "_We really can't afford to tell you much. The more you know, the more likely we'll have to clean you up as well. We prefer to destroy ALL evidence, you see. So why don't you do us both a favor and stay put while we take care of everything, hmm?" _

Dark sneered sarcastically. "Your jokes have poor taste, Hawk."

Hawk smiled sweetly. His eyes, however, were cruel and steely like a bird of prey's. "_What's that?"_

"Now that you know I can spy on you using a method you don't understand, your first logical step would be to get rid of me as soon as my usefulness is gone. It doesn't matter what I do anymore – I'm as good as dead according to you."

Hawk leaned forward against the back of the sofa. He looked at the screen with a touch of pity. "_If you weren't so clever we could have arranged something to leave you alone._" He shook his head. "_But you're right. You leave us no choice since you've proven that you can watch us without our knowledge. No wonder,_" he spoke softly, which Bates mimicked perfectly for Dark, "_the government wants you, Dark." _

"Wait, what?" The right eye that Dark had kept closed flew open in surprise. His eyebrows knitted together as he tried to make sense of what Hawk had just said. "You're saying the government wants me… because of Bates?"

"_Bates?"_

"But that makes no sense." Dark rested his chin on his hands and drummed the floor with his fingers. "Vaati suspected someone would be after me _before_ he gave me Bates – Bates was a precaution to help me _because_ someone might be after me. That means it's not Bates that the government is after. It's something else." Dark sighed, his head tilting in general confusion. "But what? And why? Why would they want me? Did Vaati know something else that he didn't tell me?"

"_Who is this Bates?"_ Kestrel asked.

Dark paused, taking notice of the two men again. He narrowed his red and blue eyes. "What does the government want from me?"

Hawk took over once again. He betrayed a little impatience in his voice but he kept his expression professionally civil. "_We've already established that we're not exactly friends, Dark. We're not obligated to tell you. However, it is in your best interest to tell us what you know so we can protect you from the government." _

Dark wasn't about to be tricked by Hawk's soothing voice, silky like a snake lying in wait in the brush. "You haven't given me reason to believe the government is my enemy. I need to judge that for myself, and to do that you have to let go of your ideas to keep things secret. Besides," Dark grinned, "I'm as good as dead, aren't I?"

"The government is definitely _not_ on your side."

"Uhh, okay. Who was it that put a bomb in my house?"

Hawk stared at the screen for a long time. Then, he took a deep breath and shrugged. "_I didn't want it to come to this._" He stood up and turned his back to the screen. "_While it is true that you may be as good as dead, I wonder how you would feel if the life of your friend was also on the line. Depending," _Hawk glanced back to Dark on the screen, "_on how you behave…" _He trailed off to let Dark's imagination fill in the gaps.

"My… friend?" Dark stopped grinning. He felt a chill pass over him.

"_Yes. Have you spoken to Miss Sterling recently?_"

Dark shot up from where he sat. "Z-Zelda?_!_" He hadn't spoken to her in a long time. He, Vaati, and Zelda had hung out quite a bit after they had returned from the Avilux case. Well, it had mostly been because of Vaati's "game" with Zelda. She'd lost, of course, and she'd fallen for him.

It had been a messy end to an otherwise potentially great friendship, and Dark had resented that. Vaati had intentionally screwed everything up by becoming bored and breaking the poor girl's heart. Dark had done his best to convince Zelda out of it, and for all he knew Zelda understood where he was coming from. Still, Vaati had that irresistible charm and he was good at sounding genuine when he was far from it. It had been a one-sided affair at the end.

Or had it really? Sometimes, Dark had wondered if Vaati was deathly afraid of actually falling for someone. It meant making yourself vulnerable, giving your heart and trusting that the other person wouldn't break it. Considering Vaati, Dark could see how the sorcerer would _hate_ dealing with feelings like that.

Whatever motive Vaati had for breaking it off, the end result was that they never spoke to each other again. Automatically assumed as being with Vaati, Zelda had broken off contact with Dark as well.

And Dark guiltily recalled not making any effort to reach out again. Zelda could be really scary when she was upset. Now that Hawk was hinting at Zelda's safety being at stake, he felt especially guilty for not having maintained contact. Holding in a tremor lest Hawk and Kestrel took advantage of his nervousness, Dark demanded with as much force as he could. "Where's Zelda? What did you do to her?_!_"

"_We haven't done anything to her_," Hawk smiled cutely, "_yet." _

"You bastards! You'd stoop so low so as to take hostages!"

"_All we ask is your cooperation. Who is this 'Bates' you speak of, and how are you able to spy on us?"_

Dark scowled. If they had a hostage he had no choice. Slowly sitting back down, he clenched his fists in frustration. There was one thing he could do to turn the situation around. He mentally reached out to the sentry eye. _Bates, I want you to do everything you can to unsettle those crooks._ When Dark got a mental confirmation in the form of a light snicker, he raised his head and spoke clearly to the two Talon men. "All right, you got me. I'll show you rather than explain."

"_Good._" Hawk smiled satisfactorily. Next to him, Kestrel relaxed on the sofa. Relaxation didn't last long, however. The man with the sunglasses sat up straight when a clammy chill passed over the back of his neck. Hawk noticed, and he made a face at his partner. "_You're awfully jumpy today." _

"_I just felt something. It was weird." _Kestrel scratched the back of his neck. "_Like a corpse had touched my neck…_"

Dark grinned. He could see Bates fly around and take aim for Hawk next. "Now if one of you can get a mirror and face it towards you, you will have all of your answers."

"_Here I got one_," Kestrel stood up and made his way to the bathroom. A few seconds later, he came back carrying a small mirror in his hands. "_Is this all right?" _He then noticed Hawk fidgeting, moving his weight from one foot to the other. "_Er, is something the matter?"_

"… _Don't worry about it." _It was an admirable attempt to pretend nothing was wrong when Bates decided to hop from Hawk's one foot to the other, giving the man an eerily uncomfortable feeling of having cold feet.

Dark tried not to look too amused when Bates finally looked towards the mirror in Kestrel's hands. He couldn't have them suspect he was up to no good. The sentry eye flew quickly behind Kestrel and through his head before he spread both wings wide and stopped in front of the mirror. The man with the tinted glasses freaked out from the initial onset of clammy coolness around his head, followed by catching a glimpse of a demon eye in the mirror.

"_Augh!" _Kestrel threw the mirror away from him and fell backwards, clutching his head. Hawk immediately took out his gun while rushing to his side.

"_What is it?_!" Hawk whirled around and faced the mirror when the only response from Kestrel was a shaky finger pointing at it. Shooting a glare at Dark who was suppressing laughter, Hawk cautiously approached it and picked it up. Bates repeated the maneuver from earlier. Instead of just throwing it like Kestrel had done, however, Hawk reflexively shot it with his silenced pistol.

Dark whistled. "Wowww, nice shot."

"_What the hell is that thing?" _Hawk snarled, his soft voice no longer sounding so nice.

Dark crossed his arms over his chest and sneered. "That is Bates." A mischievous idea crept into his head. He let his voice take on a solemn tone, and he smiled inwardly when both Hawk and Kestrel took a step away from the screen. "I've been cursed with this demon for eternity. He'll follow me wherever I go, never leaving my side until he consumes my soul. When I die…" his expression hardened, "one of you will be the next ones to be cursed by Bates."

"_Y-you speak nonsense!" _Kestrel cried.

"Hey, I'm just telling you guys what you wanted to know," Dark shrugged nonchalantly. "Now let Zelda go."

Hawk watched him carefully with a long, calculating cold look. After some time, he turned his heel, leaving Kestrel with the laptop. "_Hmph. Her safety was guaranteed from the beginning. We don't have her hostage." _

Dark blanched. "What?_!_"

Hawk smiled coolly. "_She's currently overseas, and therefore the government can't really lay its hands on her at the moment. We don't have any interest in what the government isn't after – the more people involved, the harder it is for us to manage things so we've left her alone." _

"So you… you tricked me!"

Hawk ignored him and addressed Kestrel instead. _"We know about this demon now. We'll worry about it later – it doesn't seem like it can do much besides spying. Keep an eye out on government movements for now." _

"_What about the curse he was talking about? If he dies it'll possess us?"_

"_Mere superstition and bluff. We'll determine if it's really nasty later. We've got bigger things to worry about." _

"_Tch, you don't have to order me around, Hawk. I know what I'm doing. You're not Dugal." _

Dark stood up angrily in his holding room. "Hey! Wait a second! You haven't told me anything yet!"

Hawk didn't even glance back at the screen as he waved one hand goodbye. "_Nor do we need to at the moment. We will talk to you some other time, Dark." _

XXXXXXXXX

"Mr. Engst, we will be arriving in less than five minutes."

Vaati shifted his weight on the couch. Slowly, he turned his head behind him so he could see out the window. They were still flying many miles above sea level. "We're not even close to the ground," he pointed out. They were flying lower than their maximum altitude, but it was still too high up for them to be close to anything.

Dugal's voice came through the intercom. "If you would keep your eye on the right-hand-side of the plane, you will see our destination."

Just slightly before Dugal finished speaking, the plane lurched and the right wing dipped towards the ground so that Vaati could get a good view of the Pacific Ocean. The sorcerer momentarily felt his arms press against the wall, gravity pulling him, before his body got used to the sensation. Down below, Vaati saw a small island about 10 miles across – it was a tiny green oasis in the turquoise desert. There were no landing pads for planes, nor were there any signs of civilization from what he could glimpse. Vaati sighed just loud enough for Dugal to be able to hear when he guessed what the man expected him to do to get down there.

"Just turn off the engines when you're ready to land." He added, "I wish you'd stop assuming I can do these things."

There was laughter from the cockpit. "But I'm right that you can do these things."

Vaati scowled and stood up. He wondered if one of these days he should pretend he couldn't do what Dugal wanted him to do, just to see that man's surprised face. Then again, he just hated the fact of even pretending to be incapable of doing something. It was really annoying…

The deep roar of the engines softened into a low purr until it fell silent. Vaati yawned, and then spread his arms to prepare a spell. A few seconds later, the plane was surrounded with a faint blue glow and decelerated in the air until it was hovering like a helicopter. Then, slowly, it descended towards the island.

"Place it gently on the beach, please, but not too close to the water because the tide might wash it away."

Huffing indignantly, Vaati followed the ex-Talon leader's request. The plane gently floated towards the white sands of the pristine beach, and Vaati let it settle onto the ground. There was a slight tremor that almost knocked the standing sorcerer off of his feet, but all in all it had been expertly maneuvered.

Vaati yawned again, and then rubbed his eyes in puzzlement when he noticed his fatigue. It couldn't have been that spell that had tired him – that was one of the easier ones he could do. And why should he be sleepy – which he was – when the sun was still up and it couldn't have been past five o'clock yet? Dugal appeared in the galley, checking his watch.

"Though I'm sure you're anxious to start exploring today, I think we should call it a day and start tomorrow. If you can somehow conceal this plane from view like you did with your flying castle, that will be splendid." Dugal wiped his glasses with his sleeve, and then propped it back on his nose. "I'll be up front. Let me know only if there's an emergency." With that, he disappeared as quickly as he'd come, leaving Vaati grumbling about how, once again, Dugal had just assumed he knew how to do something without asking first.

Then, he scratched his head. They had to call it a day? Really, when it was still so bright outside? Vaati walked over to one of the doors leading outside and kicked it open. The sound of water lapping against the sand came rhythmically, and the afternoon sun was warm and comforting even though it was winter. _Why not go explore now and get the initial survey over with? _Vaati thought as he looked towards the dense, tropical forest that created a green wall that cut an abrupt end to the white sand.

Another wave of fatigue hit him, and he scowled in irritation at his lack of stamina. _Goddesses damn it, why do I feel so tired?_!

And then it hit him. By flying out across the Pacific and crossing the International Date Line, they had been chasing the sun this entire trip. He was sleep deprived.

Vaati closed the door and went back inside. He lay across the couch and thought about another thing he had learned to consider in this modern age that he'd never had to worry about before. Back when he had been his original self, he'd been ambitious, but hadn't been able to get to the point of pursuing the world outside of Hyrule. Gale had never travelled internationally, and he couldn't recall any other incarnations that had done much worldly travelling. The issues that came with world travelling were new.

_My other incarnations… ?_

Vaati sat up immediately when he tried to remember his other lives before Gale's. There was something… _weird_… about those memories.

_I can't… remember any details? _

Vaati rummaged through his memory and became increasingly worried. _Why? Why can't I remember them clearly? _

It was all a gist. He couldn't remember anything specific. He couldn't remember birth or death, or the details of people he had met during those times. The only thing he could grasp was that vague feeling of frustration; probably from not being able to recall whom he was during that time.

Vaati flopped back down onto the couch and tried to sleep. _If only I could remember some of those memories, I might have a clue on how to keep memories after death. I might learn something interesting. _

His mind wandered into another line of thought that had been bothering him since the day his memory as a wind mage had returned. _If I could remember, I might have been able to learn why magic doesn't exist in this world anymore…_

XXXXXXXXX

Sometime in the early hours of next morning while Dark was asleep in his room, Hawk and Kestrel were intently reading private government cables that Kestrel had managed to intercept and decode. Hawk read it over several times, while Kestrel stared at it blankly.

"Are you sure?" Hawk finally asked.

"Why are you asking me that, I didn't write this or make this up," Kestrel said, slightly insulted.

Hawk took a deep breath. "The Department of Justice is thinking about issuing an Amber alert for Gale Engst: we're going to have to work fast then."

"Right, because we'll have the entire nation looking for him and his face will be posted all over public media. When that happens, it'll become really difficult for us."

Hawk sighed again and rubbed his temples. "I didn't think we'd have to worry about the Engst kid because, well, you said you thought Dugal was involved on that end, right?"

Kestrel shrugged. "Yeah. That's what I'm thinking, anyway, with seventy-percent certainty. But now that we know _he'_s involved too, as well as Dugal, and I'm not sure Dugal knows about that because we haven't been in touch since our group fell apart…" he trailed off. He started again with a sheepish expression. "Sir wouldn't want to admit it, but without us he's just a rich bastard who's only human with slightly, _slightly_, more talent than us."

"Mostly human," Hawk corrected, tapping his right arm.

"Psh. Well you get my point." Kestrel crossed his arms and bit his lip. "We were both confident we wouldn't have to stick our necks into Dugal and the Engst boy's affair,"

"Yeah."

"But now we _know_ the government, or should I say _HE_, wants pale face," Kestrel jabbed a finger at the window on the computer that showed the surveillance clip of Dark, "more than Darkie."

Hawk rubbed his chin. "Or maybe he wants Dugal too? You follow one, you get the other. Engst is a lot harder to hide…" he hummed thoughtfully, "I wonder, also, if the Engst boy did something troublesome for the government recently?"

Kestrel stood up, pushing his tinted glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Fact is, I don't care who he's after, be it Sir or that kid. All I want is to fuck up that government mutt's plans so much that we force him out and nab him, that traitorous son of a bitch."

Hawk patted his partner on the shoulder. "Me too." He brushed past Kestrel and walked out of the room. "Considering recent developments, I think we have no choice but tell Dark what he wants to hear. We can't afford having internal problems: we need full cooperation…"

* * *

fleets: I know, I know. I wanted to see lots of jets go boom too (or at least a bit of Vaati and Dugal doing something other than being bored on a plane). But logically speaking they wouldn't have been able to handle provoking a direct attack on one of the greatest military powers on the planet (you just don't want to piss off something like that, even if you happen to be the greatest sorcerer in the world).  
But now who's Hawk and Kestrel talking about? More new people? REALLY? Or is "he" really new? Do I really know what I'm doing?

**i-wish-799: **Yay! Yeah, there's definitely going to be more focus on the Talon guys this time around ;)**  
**

**Midna Hytwilian: **Haha, everyone's in trouble (wheee!)

**Purplegc: **When Bates and Vaati meet up, that should be fun. :P Oy, yeah I don't know what's with the chapters these days that make me keep ending with cliffies or sort-of cliffies. **  
**

**Lord Siravant: **I wanted to have an aerial fight, but I thought about what would happen afterwards. Like Vaati says, it's a whole lot more complicated in the modern world than in the past (Zelda game) world...**  
**

**dark digidestined: **Glad I can still make people squee ;)**  
**

**SubZeroChimera: **Things just keep getting more convoluted...**  
**

**Vaati the wind mage1: **Not the Temple of Time, no. You're right, the Temple of Time is in Aokigahara, Japan. This temple is... out on a small island in the Pacific Ocean :3**  
**

**henslight: **Ah, don't worry about it :) I wanted that to happen too, but my logical author side told me "then they'll be super screwed afterwards," v.v; . Yay thanks! I'm happy I'm getting the hang of the character balance - I know I sort of struggled with that in Avilux for juggling so many characters at once (I think it has something to do with keeping most of the focal cast male - i.e. little/no Zelda. She made things pretty difficult to write the last time). **  
**

**jioplip: **What _are_ Hawk and Kestrel up to? Seems like they hold a grudge... I'll tell you guys in the next chapter ;) Oh and thank you! :D**  
**

**msfcatlover: **Dark might not be too fond of Bates right now, but yeah it would have been really bad if he'd lost that stone! Now he has something to bother his kidnappers hehe. **  
**

**Kate: **Thanks for the reviews on my stories - I couldn't reply before because yours was an unsigned review, but I'll say this now: Thank you! :D Haha, to be honest I wasn't really planning on writing a sequel, but then a story just popped out of nowhere and I had to write it out. **  
**

**Sapphiet: **Thanks for the reviews! And don't worry - I'm no stranger to the busy craziness life throws at us. How DID Thistle find that out, hmm? We'll find out eventually for sure ;) Oh oops, sorry if I wasn't clear: I was trying to describe that the three other sentries had vanished, and only one (i.e. Bates) remained. Haha! Don't let Vaati hear you say that about him XD (actually, he needs to finish those video games lol). Bourdeaux is a type of red wine, and yep he's technically underage (but Vaati thinks that doesn't apply to him because he considers himself to be a lot older). He found it in the plane's fridge (and didn't tell Dugal about it, probably). Corrrect! He warped them away. To the other side of the ocean haha. **  
**

**Vaati's Servant: **Wow I'm flattered your mom liked the chapter too - thanks! :D**  
**

**Shadow R-B: **Master's (I mean... "Bates'") got a real attitude. Probably from Vaati pfft. Aww, don't be too harsh on Dugal - there's something outside his calculations that's screwing him up a bit (which Hawk and Kestrel allude to). But maybe it'll be a good lesson for those two, the two most ego-inflated people on the planet, who are on the plane right now. Those two could use a good hit to their egos once in a while. **  
**

**LilyMoonstone: **Yeah that's just Bates flying into the foreground. As much as I would've wanted Vaati being badass, it wouldn't have been a good idea lol. **  
**


	9. A Case of Underestimation

fleets: Dang, I bet people forgot about this story since it's been so long... X( Sorry! I'm having a ton of end-of-the-term papers to write, so I haven't been too motivated to do even more writing.

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**Chapter 9: A Case of Underestimation  
**

Dark paced around in his room, trying to think of a way out. At the same time, what would he do if he escaped? He didn't know where he was, and for all he knew Hawk and Kestrel might have been telling the truth when they had told him how the government was after him. After all, Dark had that bad feeling when he first saw those government agents come around to the pizzeria to make inquiries just before the two Talon mercs had kidnapped him. And then there was that note Vaati had left that had mentioned something about being wary of the government.

But… it was the government. They were supposed to be law bringers and paragons of justice, weren't they? And on the opposite spectrum were people like Talon Three who dealt in the shady realm of the underworld, always skirting along the line of barely legal (or maybe blatantly illegal) actions. And yet, how right was that assumption? Who was he to say the government was justice, when it seemed like they dealt with equally shady ventures. The only difference was that one had more overall power than the other – one had more legitimacy backed by that powerful word "federal."

The question came down to who he trusted more: the government, or Talon Three. Should he take his chances with his country, or should he take his chances with a group that had once attempted to get rid of him and his friends a while ago? Logically speaking the answer appeared obvious, but Vaati had thrown his cards in with the former leader of Talon.

But then… Hawk and Kestrel had mentioned how Talon Three had disbanded. It was all too possible that Dugal and the rest were no longer on the same side.

This was too confusing.

"Hey Bates," he mumbled under his breath. The little sentry eye that had been floating by the windowsill with its eye closed woke up. "Whose side should I be on?"

The eye flapped its wings once, its equivalent of a shrug. "It is inherently obvious that I would allot myself to whatever Lord Vaati decrees as an advantageous arbitration."

"Mmm," Dark hummed to himself, still thinking about what to do. Just then, there was a faint knock from the door and Hawk and Kestrel walked in. Dark immediately jumped off the bed he was sitting on, but Hawk raised a hand.

"Relax." He and Kestrel dragged over the chairs in the room and sat down across from Dark. As a sign of apparent truce, they placed their guns on a table in front of them out of reach. Dark relaxed a little, but he eyed them with caution just in case. He didn't trust that they didn't have something else besides their guns; he doubted they would place themselves in a defenseless position.

Hawk ran a hand through his hair. "A few things have come up and we decided it would be best if we told you what we knew so we can have your full cooperation."

Dark said nothing and instead regarded them with a suspicious eye. Hawk continued, while Kestrel sat next to him expressionlessly.

"I'm sure you've heard about how the United States is being suspected of withholding information regarding Avilux. Kestrel here," Hawk poked his thumb over to Kestrel, "managed to piece things together from what we knew from Dugal as well as from a few classified cables from the government, and can confirm that this is true. The US knows more about Avilux than it is admitting to everyone else. The thing we don't know is why they're keeping things hidden, but we can make a few accurate guesses," Hawk winced at the word; he wasn't a fan of rumors and speculation, "from what we know of the government's movements."

Hawk held out his hand toward Kestrel, and at this moment the other man shifted in his seat and took out his computer. He pressed a few keys, and then passed it over to Hawk who then turned the screen around for Dark to see. It was a satellite image of a mountain range, and Dark recognized the blazing fireball that had been the chaotic goddess they had gone against a while ago. The same image had been released in public when it had first caused a commotion.

"This photograph hasn't been released to the public," Hawk explained, and Dark looked up at him in surprise. The man pointed at the corner of the image where there was a blurred, grey smudge that was out of focus. "Look here. Do you see anything odd about that part of the picture?"

"It's just a grey smudge. Maybe clouds?"

"That's what they appear to be, yes," Hawk agreed in a voice that suggested both of them knew more about the smudge than they let on. Frowning, Dark leaned forward to look at the smudge again.

Then, he gasped when it occurred to him what it could have been.

Hawk smirked. "You and I know that those aren't clouds, Dark. You probably know more about it than we do, but we pieced a little bit together from Dugal's behavior after the Avilux incident, as well as what we gathered from government cables. That is what the government is currently calling the Castle in the Sky, and Kestrel and I are fairly certain that you, your friends, and Dugal have been there before."

Dark froze, while Bates fluttered towards his shoulder. "They know about the Master's Palace…"

Before Dark could decide whether or not to tell the two men that they were right, Hawk caught on to his split hesitation. "Aha. So we were right and you do know about it."

Dark flattened his lips. It was no use hiding it now. "So how did the government find out about it?"

At this, an outright murderous expression appeared fleetingly on Hawk and Kestrel's face. They glanced at each other, and it was a few seconds later when Hawk smiled sourly at Dark. "That's because one of our former coworkers decided he could gain a better profit by working with the government after Talon Three disbanded."

"Once Dugal lost his arm there was nothing to stop Condor from doing what he wanted. He didn't consider the two of us a big enough threat to take him down if he sided with the government and leaked everything he knew about Talon Three," Kestrel mumbled bitterly. "The only reason why they haven't caught us yet is because they're using all of their energies in tracking Dugal down instead."

"And they still haven't caught him yet?" Dark was a little impressed.

"No," Hawk paused, "but I dare say it's only a matter of time before they catch up to him. We don't think he knows about Condor feeding the government information about how we work."

"And what does this have to do with you guys kidnapping me?"

"The only reason why we're interested in you is because Condor and the government is interested in you." Hawk gave his charmingly disarming smile again. "They are bound to be frustrated if we take whatever they were interested out of their hands."

"Unfortunately we found out recently that they're more interested in your Engst friend, who we suspect is with Dugal at the moment," Kestrel added.

Dark raised a skeptical eyebrow. "So basically you're picking a fight with America because you're upset with one guy who decided to follow a more legal life?"

Hawk wagged a finger, tutting. "Not 'upset,' but absolutely 'furious.' We don't take kindly to traitors."

"But it's the government!"

"We're stubborn when it comes to these things."

Dark crossed his arms over his chest and took a deep breath. He turned his head slightly towards his shoulder to look at Bates for help, but the sentry simply oversaw the conversation with mild interest. Shifting his weight, Dark frowned and gazed at Hawk sternly. "So I can either throw my lot in with you guys or the government."

At this moment, Kestrel scoffed. "I'll say this frankly, but you don't have a choice, kid. You're coming with us."

As Dark began to protest, Hawk held up a hand and stood up, interrupting him. "Before you argue with us, just keep this in mind: there's a good reason for the speculations of America attempting to create a super-weapon. Don't think your country is always on your side."

Hawk and Kestrel left Dark to think about those words.

XXXXXXXXXX

Vaati groggily rubbed his eyes as he blinked at the early morning sun. He'd had some trouble falling asleep thanks to the combined effect of jetlag and general unease of being within ten feet of someone he didn't like. Groaning, he rolled over off the couch, and with a cat-like stretch he stumbled towards the door to get some fresh air.

The rolling gurgle of the waves lapping against the beach was surprisingly loud to his ears. He figured he would've enjoyed the soothing sound if he wasn't already irritable from his messed up sleep pattern. Vaati took off his shoes and took a few steps down the beach, letting the sand tickle his toes and enjoying his first time completely alone since a while. The tropical humidity of the island was the only thing he didn't particularly like, as it forced him to abandon his purple-grey jacket: he liked the feeling of having something around his shoulders, and walking around with only a t-shirt made him feel exposed. He understood practicality though – he wasn't so stubborn about it that he was going to walk around sweating underneath his jacket…

He whipped up a small wind in the sand and watched the beige, grainy tornado make its way out to sea.

Alone. Alone at last.

As soon as Vaati allowed himself a small hint of a smile, he heard something else mixed with the sound of the waves. His mouth immediately flipped into a frown. It was voices, he was sure of it. It had been a brief sound but it had been different enough from the other natural sounds of the island that his ears had caught it. To confirm, he saw a faint flicker of light in the far side of the beach, and the shadow of a ship even farther out in the ocean. So much for being alone.

The low thud of the plane door opening made Vaati turn his head. Dugal was up and mostly awake – the sorcerer was pleased to see that though the Talon leader could hide his fatigue, he couldn't hide the faint dark rings that were faintly evident under his eyes. He appeared less like the dangerous Talon and more like a ruffled businessman especially since he had opted not to wear his trademark black suit in the hot, humid weather.

Dugal looked as though he was going to say something to Vaati, but then his head shot up towards where the faint light had been. His eyes narrowed behind the glasses when he saw the ship in the far distance.

"Ohhh let me guess – there are people on this island who aren't supposed to be here," Vaati drawled sarcastically. "It's starting to seem that you have incredibly poor planning."

"Since when have they been here?" Dugal asked sharply, ignoring Vaati's quip.

Vaati shrugged. "They were there when I walked outside." He pointed at the plane that was invisible to the naked eye thanks to his concealment spell. "We can just sit tight inside the plane until they leave. They won't be able to find it."

Dugal rubbed his wrists as he stared out at the flickering lights that were gradually approaching. Then, shaking his head he immediately jumped down from the plane. "No. If we stay here for a week then they may leave, but we can't do that."

"Tch yeah, I would hate to sit in that plane with you for a week."

"Sentiments shared," Dugal replied stiffly. Then, "I would prefer to take care of the temple as soon as possible before this place gets overrun by the government, and leave when we're done."

"You're sure it's the government?"

"Absolutely. Though I don't know how they figured out where we were…"

Vaati sneered. "Perhaps you underestimated them?" He shoved the thought aside on how he was guilty of underestimating opponents as well. "And what makes you think they won't follow us into this temple of yours?"

Dugal gave a tight-lipped smirk. "They won't." Brushing sand away from his shoes, he quickly walked towards the brush.

Vaati frowned at the retreating figure. Back when he had reigned as the greatest sorcerer alive, he hadn't exactly known anyone else with the same degree of disgusting confidence he'd had. He'd never really thought much of his own arrogance before. Now that he was with someone with a similar sense of superiority he was beginning to see what his own mistakes in the past had been.

Firstly, the inability to admit making a mistake. It was obvious to any idiot by now that things weren't going according to predictions, yet the Talon leader was stubborn to deviate from original plans because he adamantly believed that his original plans were flawless. Second, the idea of invincibility even though he was crippled in more ways than one. It sounded like Dugal was forgetting he no longer had the same status he had a few years ago ever since his exclusive group had disbanded and he'd lost his good arm.

Even though Dugal's past track record for getting things done was no doubt impressive, Vaati was beginning to have some doubts on this venture's success. Maybe he was having doubts because he wasn't the one in charge and he never trusted anyone else to do a better job than him. Maybe it was because he had committed the same mistakes again and again (as much as he hated to admit it) back in the past…

"Whatever," he muttered. He was just going to follow along for the time being until he understood more about what was going on. For now it was a game of patience: a clear deviation from his earlier approach. It would be nice to think he'd learned a thing or two from his past… failures. That he was more dangerous because of it.

Because when he did learn more about the whole picture of what was going on, the claws were going to come out. Dugal wasn't stupid – he probably knew he'd lose control of Vaati if he let him know too much.

XXXXXXXXX

Dugal didn't understand it. He thought he'd taken every precaution to keep anyone off of their tails, and during all of his years in the field this was the first time someone had caught up to them this much. Of course, perhaps this was the first time he was dealing with the government being extremely serious about catching him. They were bringing out jet fighters for Din's sake; he certainly hadn't expected that one. Sure he'd caused trouble before, but not to the extent that they were involving military force.

He pushed aside the broadleaved tropical plants that were growing in the way of his path, making them rustle behind him. At least, he thought, he had the mysterious Engst boy with him. He trusted that the kid would be able to throw off most pursuers with those strange powers of his, but at the same time he knew he couldn't rely on them forever. Most of the reason why his powers worked at all was because their pursuers didn't know what to make of them: once they got used to them it was going to be a lot harder to run.

Dugal frowned, and then turned his head when he noticed there was no rustling noise behind him where Vaati was supposed to be following. He was momentarily taken aback when he saw the sorcerer hovering above the plants and following him instead of walking through them. Vaati noticed him looking his way, and shot a smug grin as he flipped his hair out of his face. "Worried I wasn't following you? I'm just silent like the wind. Hahahaha!" The sorcerer laughed at his own joke.

"You're much too talkative for that, Mr. Engst," Dugal snapped moodily and shoved the impeding plants aside with more force than necessary. The good thing was that Engst probably had a few more tricks that he wasn't sharing yet that would still be good for getting rid of anyone who got too close to them. The bad thing was... also that Engst probably had a few more tricks that he wasn't sharing yet. Dugal wasn't prone to trusting other people to begin with, but with the Engst boy it was even worse. There was something about the kid's eyes that were unnerving, and it wasn't just because they were an unnatural red, which he'd always assumed was from albinism…

No, there was that glint in the kid's eyes that he'd only ever seen in the very few people who he had pegged as a legitimate threat. His eyes had that hungry look to them – the look that said nothing was going to stop him from getting what he wanted. While that kind of persistence was a good thing when they were on his allies, they were troublesome when they were on someone independent and selfish like the sorcerer. Neither Dugal nor Vaati were the type to follow – they weren't going to last very long as soon as either side had all of the information they wanted.

Because as much as Dugal hated to admit it, he was relying heavily on Vaati for this venture and without him he would be forced to give it up. He _needed_ his expertise on magic to get through the temple. To make sure Vaati didn't take advantage of his dependence, Dugal was doing everything to make sure the sorcerer didn't learn more about this project than he needed to. In this way, Vaati was dependent on Dugal for information.

The only thing… the ONLY thing that was keeping the two of them on equal grounds of respect was their dependence on each other to succeed. It was a tricky game; as soon as Dugal allowed Vaati to figure out his pieces on his own, it was over, for the sorcerer would no doubt turn on him to finish the project without him.

He wasn't going to let that happen.

Dugal stopped walking. He strained his ears to see if he could catch the noise he thought he had just heard. Vaati had heard it too, and the sorcerer floated lower in the air as he snapped his neck from left to right. Dugal was the first to catch movement and he grabbed the hovering sorcerer by the foot and yanked him down next to him behind the dense brush. Ignoring Dugal's insistence to stay low, Vaati raised his head slightly towards where there had been something sneaking around. He frowned – there were several men in military gear who were guiding flashlights through the shadows casted by the trees in the faint light of dawn. They were bothersome, but Vaati was pretty sure he could handle them and have them out of the way.

"Do you want me to get rid of them?" Vaati mouthed quietly. He gave a mischievous grin. "I can turn them into stone, if you'd like, and set them up along the beach. Maybe they'll spread rumors of Medusa and Gorgons on this island."

Before Dugal could reply, there was a strange movement in the shadows of the trees next to them. Both their heads immediately to the unusual shadows by the trees; they were cast towards the direction of the sun in the opposite direction of natural shadows, and they… _moved_. As in they stretched from one shadow to the next like dripping wax, except it was very quick moving wax. Dugal said nothing, but turned towards Vaati for an explanation. Vaati only shrugged.

"Don't look at me, I don't know what that is." Then, with more frustration he added, "Maybe if you told me a little more about this temple I would be able to help you more."

Dugal kept his temper in check. "Now is not the time to argue, Mr. Engst." He took a cautious step back away from the goopy shadows that were circling them and slowly approaching.

The shadows continued to circle, jumping from one forest shade to another and never staying in sunlight for long. Vaati counted three of them moving together. His eyes trailed off from the moving shadows to where he and Dugal were currently crouching. It was then he got a bad feeling about the way the shadows were moving.

In an effort to hide from the searching military, the two of them had ended up ducking within a large shade.

"Hey Dugal, we need to move out of here," Vaati hissed. "Never mind those guys searching for us with flashlights – I'll take care of them. We have to get out of this shade."

Dugal shifted his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Is there a need to hurry without fully understanding – "

"_Think_ about why you hired me you insolent fool! It's a sorcerer's instinct and I trust it more than I trust you." He quickly and forcefully grabbed the other man's left arm to drag him up to the tree canopy and into the sunlight.

He was equally forcefully stopped by Dugal's prosthetic right. "What are you doing?" Dugal seethed, obviously offended by the wind mage's choice of words.

Vaati was about to retaliate with a good burst of magical energy to the insufferable man's face. He was on the verge of losing his patience anyway, and he had convinced himself that he had had enough of playing the civil game. Before he could gain that sense of satisfaction, however, the goopy shadows chose that moment to strike and rushed towards the two dysfunctional allies with frightening speed.

By the time Vaati let go of Dugal to prepare a defensive spell, fifteen-inch dark claws shot out of the ground and slammed against the sorcerer's legs, pulling him down to the ground. They were cold to the touch, and then there was a numbing sensation where they came in contact with the skin. "No!" He brought his hand back to fight, but before he could do anything there was a heavy impact across the back of his head, making him black out.

Just before he lost consciousness, he saw Dugal try to reach for something to defend himself. Something large and black moved across his view and it pounced on the struggling man, pinning him to the ground. The thing had the silhouette of an emaciated dog with its black, leathery skin hanging loosely over its skin. The creature arched its neck and began to bark towards the military that had been searching for them. Vaati felt pressure on his chest and saw the monstrous claws of another dog holding him down.

_These… things… they're with the government? __  
_

The last image Vaati remembered seeing was a single, faintly glowing, mechanical eye as the hound swung its head towards him.

* * *

fleets: Let me give a quick recap/reasoning for my logic behind this chapter since it's been so long since the last chapters (and you might be lazy to go back to them; I know I would be :P). I know you're all thinking that Dugal and Vaati (and probably especially Dugal) are being a whole lot of fail right now. I mean, seriously, these two are making mistakes left and right to an embarrassing extent (and have they really claimed a victory at all at any point in this story? Not really). "Hey fleets!" you argue, "aren't these two characters supposed to be your badass, all-powerful, unstoppable and arrogant duo? What the bleep is going on?_!_"  
Well Thistle (Farore bless his crazy soul) got something right when he predicted that these two are super competent, but only when they're not working together ;)  
Also doggies! I kind of hinted at their existence in a quick sketch i did on devart a while back. I'll put up a better deviation of them later, probably.

**Midna Hytwilian: **Why would I make things easy for them? Except for maybe the bad guys. XD**  
**

**TwilightWakerofTime: **I kind of miss showcasing his abilities, too. I'm trying to find more instances where he can show them off :P**  
**

**Reily96: **I was thinking of writing a scene just before their breakup, but then I figured it would make this already too long story into something _way_ too long :P Hawk's good. Just not Dugal good (but now he's probably at the top since Duggie lost his arm lawl). **  
**

**i-wish-799: **Thank you! Yes, they're going to appear more in this story than the last story. And sorry about the slow updating! D:**  
**

**msfcatlover: **Nope! They're going to have to get used to it quick though, especially with Bates around. :P Yup it's Condor. He found a better gig now that Dugal lost his influence. **  
**

**LilyMoonstone: **I think Bates would appreciate a good cuddle. Bates: x3**  
**

**jioplip: **I like the chess metaphor! I think it can definitely fit for this story. Dugal being the White King makes sense, because he's the linch pin for the Black side to win. Vaati being the White Queen is also perfect, because that's one of the most powerful pieces in chess, having it taken is a huge detriment to the white side, and he's also feminine to boot (er... don't tell him I said that). Actually, I agree with everything on the white side so far. I guess I haven't given much away for the black side (though I agree with the black pawns). You've got it figured out pretty well so far! I guess we have to figure out what pieces Condor, Thistle, and Thyme, and any other unintroduced characters would fill (I think between those three it's obvious Condor will probably be on the black side for now). **  
**

**Vaati the wind mage1: **You're on the right track if you're thinking of something from Phantom Hourglass/Spirit Tracks ;). Yeah I wouldn't really enjoy having to sort out memories from more than one life DX**  
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**SubZeroChimera: **Yup! One of the temples from the ocean based games (i.e. PH/ST). Probably not exactly the same, but I'm planning to follow the same features. **  
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**Shadow R-B: **Vaati's just playing the waiting game until he can find the right opportunity to seize power away from Dugal. Of course it might be a little while because of this new development. :P **  
**

**Kate: **Dark's got a tough choice to make (if he even has one! Those guys are stubborn). At first I thought this story was going to be over 30 chapters, but now it might be closer to 20. Actually I have no idea. It'll depend on how many chapters I'll need to do each "checkpoint" in my outline justice. We're not at the halfway point yet, that's for sure. And thanks! :)**  
**

**Sapphiet: **Hahaha maybe I'll do a drunk Vaati scene again for the fun of it (even though I don't really know where I'll fit it in this story. Actually... I might know of one and it involves Thistle lol). **  
**


	10. The Face of the Enemy

fleets: PFFFFT I realized half of this was just sitting on my computer, waiting to be finished. Well hallelujah 4th of July weekend, because I finished the other half that needed finishing :P

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**Chapter 10: The Face of the Enemy**

Hawk lay in bed, still in his suit, as he waited for Kestrel working in the other room to decode more information about the government's movements. Right now it was up to him to use that information to think of a plan to fly out of the country – it wasn't safe to stay in the United States anymore. Sighing, he rubbed his forehead and pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly. It used to be a lot easier back when the group was still together. All he really had to worry about was find information and pick out the most useful ones to present to Dugal so he could make the decisions on what to do next. If Dugal wasn't available, then he would go to Condor who usually turned into the substitute leader when times called for it. Now both of them were gone, and Hawk was beginning to feel the stress of handling responsibilities he wasn't sure he was ready for.

"Huh. Not so sure of yourself, are you?"

A snide voice from one of the monitors made Hawk glance up from between his fingers covering his eyes. There was an image of Dark on the screen, sitting cross-legged where they had left him after their brief meeting. The boy's one eye was red, indicating he was spying with his invisible creature he called 'Bates.'

"You put up a good act earlier, sounding oh so confident about your plans. But here's the truth you don't want to hear; you're not confident at all," Dark continued, gazing intently at the screen.

Hawk narrowed his eyes, and then reached over for the remote and switched off the monitor even though he knew it was bad work ethics to do so: he trusted Kestrel would keep watch of Dark. Right now, he didn't need to see or hear Dark's jeers. It was evident that Dark was trying to gain more information by prodding and seeing if he could get a reaction from him. They had miscalculated about the fact that Dark could watch them anywhere.

Hawk's eyes slowly moved towards the mirror where he caught a glimpse of a flying bat creature observing him. It appeared to give him a little grin, and then flapped away from the mirror out of sight. Hawk grumbled to himself, and then shook his yellow blond hair away from his face as he rolled over on the bed. He closed his eyes tiredly, and remembered how he had first got into the business of working as the infamous Talon Three. He'd never really planned to get into a business so sketchy and treacherous. In fact, he wasn't sure if Dugal himself had ever planned it to be this way. Maybe they just got way in over their heads, and got in too deep to escape their reputation.

He first met Dugal after being dismissed from the United States Air Force Academy, and the day they met was the day the idea of Talon Three had emerged. Hawk had known about the cocky troublemaker before he had met him in person, and it was because of this that he had been given a mandatory leave the same day Dugal had dropped out. He had been the chief editor of the Academy newspaper, "Hawkeye," and he had a knack of fleshing out all of the best gossip around campus. His quest to find the most well-hidden truths ultimately led him to the supernatural incident surrounding Dugal, which in turn made him a dangerous existence in the eyes of the Academy.

That incident with the mysterious shard and the unfortunate student turning into some hideous monster was a rumor that was supposed to remain a rumor. Someone like Hawk who could turn rumors into truths was someone no longer needed on campus.

Before Hawk could publish the article citing evidence for the injustice of blaming Dugal for the disappearance of the roommate, his newspaper was banned and he was asked to leave for some unrelated, ridiculous reason. He had chased down Dugal after they had both left the academy, and they met for the first time at a crowded Dunkin Donuts.

Dugal had been as frigid and intimidating as Hawk had heard him to be. He had only reluctantly agreed to meet after Hawk had managed to describe the incident with the shard with relative accuracy, and when Hawk first saw him sitting at one of the tables he never felt more disquieted by someone eating a donut:

"_I hope you're not going to waste my time. I am not in a good mood." _

"_That's understandable. The Academy was unfair towards you," Hawk sat down, wondering why he needed to feel so nervous by someone eating a chocolate glaze. _

"_I am not in a good mood because they ran out of Bavarian cream." _

"… _Ah." _

"_Now are you going to just sit there and tell me what I already know, or tell me something worth listening to?"_

And so for about half an hour Hawk told his story about the ban on his newspaper at the Academy under the condescending gaze of Dugal. Hawk didn't know why he hadn't been offended by the way Dugal, who was supposedly a grade younger than him, treated him as someone as important as a flea. Maybe it was that air of complete superiority – there were some people in the world who were gifted with that special charisma that excused them from crimes and made people listen, whether they wanted to or not. Another hour later and Dugal had finally begun to pay attention, apparently impressed by how much Hawk knew about even the most classified things.

"_No wonder 'Hawkeye' was banned. You dredge things up that aren't meant to be found, not to mention you actually have facts to back you up instead of just guesswork." _

"_Rumors don't satisfy me. I like to turn them into facts." _

"_Hmm. You also have this… 'look.' Has anyone mentioned that to you?" _

"_Er, maybe?" _

"_You can get people to talk. You look harmless, even if you're not, and people trust you because of that. And even if they don't tell you everything, you're good at picking up things that are important, and even things that are left unsaid. Most people don't understand how much you can learn just by listening to the things people avoid talking about, but you have a talent for that." _

Hawk hadn't been flattered by the compliment. He probably would have been, if it weren't for the way Dugal looked at him like a specimen of interest.

"_I can use someone like you. That's what you really wanted to talk about today, isn't it? You want to find the truth about the shard, and you figured I would too. You can't do it alone, so you want me to join you in your search." _

In truth, Hawk hadn't really known what he had wanted out of that meeting with Dugal. Initially he had simply wanted to talk to the student who was so famously rebellious towards the upper ranks, and who had caused a stir in the Academy with the shard incident. He had wanted to learn what kind of a person he was to satisfy his own curiosity, and had been planning to move on and cut ties with the icy Dugal afterwards. However, it had been difficult to deny that kind of authoritative decisiveness and Hawk had ended up nodding in agreement.

"_We're not equals. I don't need you. I have a purpose that will push me forward. I already have an offer that will take me to where I need to go next to get closer to my goal. You, however, need me. You were expelled from the Academy and now you don't have anywhere to go. You have no purpose without me, because without me the truth that you want will just melt through your fingertips." _

Now that he thought about it, maybe he had been hypnotized. But that was just the way Dugal was with lots of people – he just told them what they were, and they became what he told them they were supposed to be.

"_I will work with you under a few conditions. First, you will use your skills to find a few more men who are capable but will listen to me. Men only: I don't want to deal with any complications that may arise from having women working alongside men. We will form a group that will be the most reliable for hire by companies who want their activities… hidden. In return, I will pay everyone handsomely for their services and you will be able to get closer to the truth about the shard incident." _

"_I don't understand… is this… legal?"_

"_Is what legal?" _

"_What kind of jobs are we talking about?" _

"_Hawk, you must have realized by now that if you want to learn more about the shard incident you can't stay a good citizen. The only way to see the reality is to go where people are unafraid of seeing the dark side of things." _

"_Hawk? You mean me?" _

"_That is what you will be called from now on. Should you take up this proposition, you will refer to me as Halstead Dugal and forget the name I used at the Academy." _

"… _Alright, Dugal." _

"_Fantastic. We'll start right away so we can begin to earn necessary funds. The first thing I need you to do is to find the large corporations that are interested in energy manipulation, or those that are interested in 'zerons.' The black market and the underground is where you'll want to look first. Here's a down payment of one thousand dollars. You will receive three thousand more if you can track a corporation interested in these things." _

"… _Yes, sir." _

"_Perhaps you'll be able to recruit more people during your search." _

"_There is someone that comes to mind who dropped out of the Air Force Academy for personal reasons: a brilliant strategist whose skills were put to waste because he's more of a follower than a leader. I think I can track him down." _

"_Good. He'll be Condor. And we'll be called… Talon. Raptors who'll one day soar above all, with the knowledge that the Academy was afraid of." _

Hawk opened his eyes. What a long way they had come since that outrageous plan that had emerged in a modest fast food restaurant. He had done his part and had recruited the best in the business; Condor who was the perfect right-hand-man to Dugal, Kestrel who could handle the most difficult decoding and inventing gadgets, and Harrier the ruthless assassin. Hawk took the job of information master. There hadn't been anything they couldn't handle, and these powerful characters had all been held together under the overbearing authority of Dugal the Helmaroc King. Now the king was dethroned and they were falling apart. It forced him to look at the purpose of Talon Three's existence now that the spell had lifted.

"Hawk, I finished the decoding. Time for you to do what you do best and pick it apart." Kestrel walked into the room holding his laptop with lines of information on the screen. He stopped and hesitated, glancing at Hawk lying on the bed and all of the monitors turned off. "Are you feeling alright?"

Hawk sighed and sat up slowly. He avoided Kestrel's gaze. "Kestrel, I don't know how much longer I can do this. I'm not a strategist like Dugal or Condor. I'm a member of Talon Three, but now that the leader is gone I can't help but feel like I'm still only the editor of my university newspaper."

Kestrel frowned and nudged his sunglasses. "You're doing a good job so far. I mean, we haven't been caught yet."

"That's because the government is using its energies trying to track Dugal, don't you see? Look, Dark was right; we're picking a fight with one hell of a country. Maybe we're way in over our heads…" he tugged his tie miserably, "we haven't thought ahead at all."

Kestrel crossed his arms angrily. "You're letting Darkie's comments get to you, I bet. You would never have thought such a thing if Dugal was still here."

"Because he knew what we had to do! Me? I might be able to pretend like I do for the sake of us both, but I don't have a clue!" Hawk clenched his teeth, the stress finally getting to him. There was only so much a man could take before he finally broke. "All I ever wanted to do was find out the truth about the shard incident at the Air Force Academy, and why there was so much confidentiality surrounding it. Years later and I still don't feel like I'm any closer to the truth, and I've even deviated from my original goal. Look at me! I'm running for my life from the government, fighting against my former colleague who's turned traitor, and getting hired to complete the shady assignments of the underworld. What have I become?"

"A fucking badass," Kestrel laughed, and patted his partner on the shoulder. "We're not helpless just because we don't have someone telling us what to do. Din, we have everything to be able to pull off what we need to pull off. It's the king without his servants who is the most helpless right now, not us. Just grin and bear it: you're just nervous."

"Except servants who're not used to leading are bound to make blunders in the beginning, and blunders are something we can all do without right now."

Hawk and Kestrel immediately whirled around and reached for their guns at the sound of a voice by the door. Dark was standing by the doorway, free from his confinement and watching them smugly as he tossed Bates' red stone in his hands. "You made a mistake when you switched off your monitor, Hawk. I'm pretty resourceful, and I'm good at sneaking in and sneaking out of places." Dark flipped the red stone in the air, and then put it back into his pockets. Bates flew around the two Talon men like a watchdog, occasionally making sure to stop in front of the mirror where he was sure they could see him. Dark casually strolled over to the couch in the room and sat down.

"How did you get out?" Hawk demanded, ruffled from earlier.

Dark merely grinned broadly. "I have my ways." He refused to elaborate, and changed the subject. "I think I decided what to do." Dark raised his arms up in the air in a sign of truce. "I'll work with you under the condition you don't treat me like your prisoner. From everything I've heard I'm going to assume you'll be looking for Vaati next, and I want to find him too. Keep me involved, and I promise I'll be invaluable."

Hawk smirked, now recovered from the initial shock of finding their captive out of his room. "What can a runt like you contribute? We would prefer it if you cooperate, but not necessarily as equals."

"Who saved us from Harrier's gas chamber, huh?" Dark snapped. "You can't say you've forgotten about that."

That got Hawk to shut up. During the Avilux incident, it had been Dark who had figured out how to escape from ex-Talon Harrier's murderous trap. Maybe he could be more useful than being a mere captive. Still, he was hesitant on letting Dark in on everything.

"Look, I don't trust either you or the government right now so don't worry about me turning you in," Dark added. "You also have to understand the risk I'll be going through by working against the government with you – I know Dugal's gone and you're not feeling confident but I've seen what you guys can do."

"You were listening…" Hawk muttered grudgingly.

"Well yeah," Dark said it like it was obvious, "and you said so yourself that the only reason you haven't been caught is because the government is focusing on Vaati and Dugal right now. Well, all we have to do is find them before they do and you won't have to worry about that anymore.

Kestrel lowered his gun. "Kid's got a point."

Hawk seemed to mull over it for a little bit. Then, he finally put his gun away and turned his back. "Dark, was it?"

"Yeah."

Talon Three's information master reached over and handed Dark Kestrel's laptop. He sounded a lot more confident than before. "First order of business is to leave the country, and this is what we're going to do…"

XXXXXXXX

"Oww," Vaati woke up inside a tent of some sort that had been set up on a beach somewhere. Once his vision had returned, he surveyed his situation: his hands were cuffed together behind his back and there were three guards with rifles standing at the entrance of the tent. Night had fallen completely, and Vaati thought he could see the outline of those creepy hounds pacing outside with their faintly glowing red eyes. They eerily reminded him of a breed of Wolfos from the distant past, except these only had a single eye in the middle of their foreheads.

Vaati clenched his fists and rolled his fingers. _Feh, I can escape this easily_, he thought as he experimented with a small spell that summoned a breeze within the tent. _Shackles like these won't contain me. _

He could escape any time he wanted to; the question now was when. Dugal was nowhere in sight – they had no doubt taken him elsewhere for separate interrogation. The sorcerer shifted his weight and made himself comfortable as he waited patiently. Perhaps he could learn a few things about what the government wanted before he made his escape. This could be a good opportunity to learn what Dugal wouldn't tell him, and he was also curious about the mysterious shadow hounds as well.

XXXXXXXXX

In a few tents away from the one Vaati was held, Halstead Dugal was at a complete loss of words before the man, no… thing… in front of him. It chuckled in a near mechanical voice like something from a twisted science fiction movie. Unlike the other soldiers on the island, it was dressed in an expensive black suit, and it took a few minutes to fix its cuffs. "I can't believe you gave us so much trouble, sir. You are unbelievable," it chuckled again and observed its leather gloved fingers nonchalantly.

"You…" Dugal finally managed after having trouble finding his voice. He rarely lost his composure, but this was one of the few times his mind had gone blank.

The creature turned its head, masked like the hounds by a metallic helm that was skull-like in appearance, towards the captured ex-Talon leader. Lodged in the center of the mask was a single, red mechanical eye that watched the speechless Dugal with a hint of amusement. Bits of black shadowy tendrils like the ones from the hounds seeped from the back of its head. There was grotesqueness to the way its monstrous head mismatched its impeccable wardrobe. "Unfortunately it was only a matter of time before we finally caught up to you. Because you see, I don't think you realized we had inside information."

The corner of Dugal's mouth twitched. His face darkened behind his glasses and his lips contorted into a snarl. No wonder the government had exceeded his expectations to catch up to them. No wonder the government could predict their movements with relative accuracy. It all made sense now, but it didn't make him any happier knowing the reason why.

It made him absolutely enraged.

"Ha," Dugal snorted, and then looked at the emotionless Cyclops straight in the eye, "I should have known."

"Perhaps."

"Condor," the name came out in a hiss.

The once agent of Talon Three, no longer recognizable as his former self save for the bright blue tie, took a few steps towards Dugal who sat on the ground with his hands restrained behind his back. Condor brought his inhuman, mechanical eye closer to his former boss's face, and then gave a short bow. His voice was artificial, yet he managed to make it sound mocking.

"Yes sir."

* * *

fleets: Condor was so lame in Avilux. He was such a boring, cookie-cutter character because I didn't know what to do with him. Now he's not, and I like him so much better for it. I'll be sure to put up a deviation of him and the hounds soon: I've wanted to draw them for a while now but couldn't because it would be too big of a spoiler (and now I can!). Sorry if this chapter was OC heavy. I don't really know how to write this story anymore without writing a ton about the OCs. Hope you don't mind...

**Midna Hytwilian:** Lol now you've got me imagining that scene with Demyx running around with Heartless running after him XD

**msfcatlover:** Poor Hawk, he kind of broke down in this scene. Seems like he was forcing himself a little in the last scene. It's all part of Thistle's little card reading coming true... Dugal and Vaati are horrible together because they don't listen XD

**Sapphiet: **Condor is totally a dirt rat. You'll be seeing more of that. I forgot my login information on Squiby, so I don't know what it looks like anymore hahaha :P**  
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**Purplegc: **The government totally makes crazy stuff all the time! I was super surprised when I learned they were making laser weapons to shoot down missiles. My first reaction was: "holy... Star Wars anyone?" **  
**

**henslight: **The comment about Dark - you're thinking exactly like him ;) The hounds are something else. We don't know what they are yet though. Yep, they're doomed if they don't learn from their mistakes and start working together for real. **  
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**windmaster45: **We don't know what they are yet, but we'll find out later (well, I know what they are but I'm not saying yet!) :P**  
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**SubZeroChimera: **Someone in the government knows a bit about magic, hmm? ;)**  
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**Reily96:** Yes. Yes you do ;P

**Lord Siravant: **Haha I know how you feel about focusing on the sequel before finishing the current story. Dark seems to have decided to take his chances with Hawk and Kestrel, let's see if his decision was the right one! **  
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**TwilightWakerofTime: **:D :D Thank you! And yikes I forgot how I left this story at an evil cliffhanger! And now I'm going to leave it at another evil cliffhanger. I'm such a terrible person XD**  
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**wish799: **The temple should be up next (finally!) we're almost there!**  
**

**Kate: **Vaati still has his magic, but seems like he's going to wait it out for now. Oh, sure thing! I'll probably put up a writing guide I follow for all of my stories sometime soonish on my deviantart website since the process is too long to explain here :) I plan a lot of it before I write anything because it's a lot easier later. **  
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	11. The Devil

fleets: Thanks once again for your support! It's very much appreciated, especially during these busy times :) Also, I'm working on a deviation with Condor and the dogs so you can see what they look like.

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**Chapter 11: The Devil**

_The Devil:_

Ohhh intriguing. The obstacle takes the form of _The Devil_. Cunning evil. And how interesting! Someone will abuse their authority in a terrible way.

XXXXXXXXXXX

It was a few hours of complete and utter boredom for Vaati before anything remotely of interest happened. He'd sat patiently to see what they were planning to do to him for an hour, and then he'd gotten impatiently bored of the soldiers and the occasional dog things to walk back and forth in front of his tent. He had been able to spend a few minutes occupying himself by staring at the map hanging on the wall. There was a red circle in the middle of the ocean that was next to Guam, and he figured that was where they were now. But, there was only so much time he could spend looking at a map before he fell back to painful, painful boredom.

It would have been better if _someone_ had talked to him. Din, he would have preferred it if someone had tried prisoner abuse on him so he could surprise them with sorcery and laugh in their faces.

He figured there had been strict orders not to talk to the captives. Having nothing to do other than sit and stare blankly ahead, Vaati had even opted to take a nap. When he'd woken up, everything had been left the same as before and he'd returned to the world of boredom.

Becoming impatient and unable to tolerate sitting still for so long, Vaati had been just about to make his bold escape when a person walked into his tent and asked the guards by the entrance to leave. Vaati quickly redid the shackles he had undone and pretended he had been sitting obediently on the ground.

"So what am I wanted for this time? I'm pretty sure nothing is ever going to beat the one where people wanted to get me for attempting world domination," Vaati sneered, leaning back defiantly. He was in for a shock when he got a better look at the… thing… that had walked into his tent.

It was the closest thing he had seen to a monster in this age – metal, skull-helmed Cyclops with black tendrils streaming behind its head. The only thing that gave it a sense of humanity was the suit it was wearing, but the contrast accentuated the monstrosity instead of alleviate it. Vaati almost lost his composure like Dugal, but he was used to monsters. Instead, he stubbornly tried to hide the fact that he had been startled.

The Cyclops closed the tent behind it and spoke in a flat, robotic voice. "You are only slightly less cheeky than the last time we met, Mr. Engst." There was a pause, and then, "that was supposed to be sarcasm, but it's a little difficult to project that with this voice."

That threw Vaati for another loop. "We've… met before?"

"Briefly."

It was then that Vaati's attention moved away from the thing's head to the suit. It was a black suit accented with a bright blue tie. It couldn't have been… could it?

"You may not remember me much, so let me introduce myself again. I am Condor, former member of Talon Three."

Vaati said nothing for a while. He vaguely recalled Dugal calling his driver "Condor" two years ago during the Avilux incident. The man had sported forgettable features of an average white American person. Now his face was anything but forgettable and certainly not average. When he finally decided to say something, all he could manage was, "Holy Farore… what happened to your face?"

Condor shrugged, and gave a small chuckle that came out as raspy static more than anything. "I get that a lot." The man refused to explain, dropping the topic. He knelt in front of Vaati and brought his single eye closer to the mage's face. "I will get straight to the point. There is something Mr. Dugal has that is potentially dangerous for a mere civilian to have and use like a toy. Do you know anything about it?"

It was a surprise after surprise after surprise for Vaati. First a monster Cyclops thing comes to talk to him, then he finds out it's actually Condor, and now he's being told that Dugal has something powerful. Of course he'd suspected Dugal to have a few tricks, but if he'd known that the sneak had something like that then…

_Then I would have taken it for myself!_

Vaati tried to keep his face from revealing too much emotion. He played it cool. "Can you describe it to me? I may have seen it before."

"Unfortunately we cannot. We only suspect that he has something of an extraordinary nature because I believe he has been to one of the strongholds of zerons, or in layman's terms 'magical artifacts.'" Condor paused. Then, he let out an impatient sigh and started again. "Perhaps it will be easier if I asked you about the floating Palace?"

Vaati stiffened. Of course he had anticipated the fact that one day, people were going to find his Palace of Winds, but deep down he never expected it to happen. Actually scratch that, deep down he'd expected it to happen – he just always wanted to ignore it and turn a blind eye.

And now the government, probably one of the worst organizations to become interested in his home.

Condor continued to stare with his unblinking red eye. If there was anything Condor was really, _really_, good at now it was to stare someone down. He couldn't help it – the man couldn't blink.

Vaati remembered the long wait he had suffered before Condor had shown up. He narrowed his eyes, and stared straight back. "What did Dugal tell you?"

Another thing Condor was great at, now that he lacked facial muscles, was showing any revealing emotion at all. "The Palace exists. You know about it."

Now, Vaati wasn't sure if he should take that as something Dugal had spilled, or if Condor was just messing with him and had that information to begin with. Before he could make up his mind on how to proceed, something very weird happened. The best way he could describe what happened was that it felt like being pulled into a bucket of jello. The colors swirled, and he thought he felt someone tug his arm. The thing that bothered him the most about the whole experience was that he lost track of the sense of time, and it brought back memories of the timeless existence he had lived while being sealed within the Four Sword.

_Ugh, what awful memories. _

Then, the sensation ended abruptly like a splash of cold water and he dropped onto a pile of leaves. "Oof!" He shielded his face with his hands from a few leaves that whipped across his face.

"Wait a second…" Vaati brought his hands up to his face in surprise. They were no longer in shackles. What had happened to them, and where was he? He was clearly no longer inside the tent with Condor.

"I know you may be disoriented, Mr. Engst, but I need you to hurry to the temple with me."

Standing over him, Dugal was fixing his tie like nothing had gone wrong. He checked his prosthetic arm, moved it around a few times to make sure it was okay, and then glanced at Vaati impatiently.

This was probably the last surprise Vaati could take in a row. He finally lost his cool and pointed at Dugal, flabbergasted. "You just… you just used magic!" he accused.

"Magic? I know no such thing," Dugal replied smoothly.

"You have…" Vaati began, standing up. Then, he stopped himself. This wasn't the time to pry, even though he was sure Dugal had just used whatever it was the government wanted to let the two of them escape. The man had a tendency to clam up, or even become nasty and bitter if someone tried to figure out his secrets. Vaati didn't care if Dugal became a pain – the prick already was – but Vaati wasn't stupid. Their lack of teamwork had allowed them to get caught in the first place, and he was curious they were finally going to be able to see the temple. He could just find out whatever it was Dugal had later – it shouldn't be that hard to confiscate from him. The wind mage started again. "Right, so where is it?"

Dugal huffed, and motioned Vaati to follow. Vaati resisted the urge to summon a light in the darkness, and carefully trailed after the man to avoid stumbling. He almost ran into Dugal when the man stopped abruptly. "Here."

Vaati didn't say anything, questions running through his mind. Looking back over his shoulder, they didn't seem to be anywhere close to the beach where the government soldiers were camped. Just how had they ended up where they were now? _Is he able to teleport, or is there something else? _

_And for the love of Nayru why did we stop in front of a large rock? _

"Wow, that's an impressive temple," Vaati quipped sarcastically, motioning at the rock that was surrounded by the tropical brush.

Dugal snorted. "Just watch."

He brought his prosthetic arm closer to the stone. On closer look, Vaati admitted its perfectly smooth face did resemble a door – he recalled how cleverly hidden some of the temples could be. He also noticed a figure eight pattern engraved on the rock. It had been difficult to see in the darkness, but he recognized it when Dugal traced it with his mechanical fingers to make sure it was there. There was a faint clicking sound as the man fiddled around with his mechanical arm, but Vaati couldn't tell what he was up to since his back was to him. In a few seconds, the figure eight pattern glowed a faint yellow and an entrance appeared in the rock as the rock face vanished into a stairwell.

Vaati was about to take a step towards the stairs when something caught the corner of his eye. Dugal caught it, too, and they both swung around to face the scattered red lights that were closing in on them at a frightening speed. The darkness of the forest appeared to move with the flickering red lights like an ominous black wave. A savage growl of dogs on a trail accompanied the wave.

"They're fast!" Vaati violently grabbed Dugal's wrist and warped them as far down the staircase as he safely could. The entrance of the temple closed automatically as soon as the two were inside, and they were left with the angry howling and whimpering of the Shadow Hounds clawing at the sealed door. In utter darkness, Vaati could see nothing. "Well I hope you knew exactly what you were doing when you got us into this mess."

Somewhere next to him, there was a slight cough. "Actually I was thinking you could do what I hired you to do and find a way through this temple." There was an embarrassed pause following a crash, indicating the Talon leader had taken an uncharacteristic stumble down the stairs. "Starting now, Mr. Engst," Dugal added irritably shortly after.

XXXXXXXXXX

A few dozen red dots surrounded the hidden entrance that Dugal and Vaati had disappeared into. They Shadow Hounds easily melded into the darkness, and only their mechanical red eyes were clearly visible. One red dot cut through the group of red dots gathered around the stone and made its way towards the front. Condor's silhouette lifted itself out of the shadows in the ground and solidified.

He placed a hand on the faint hourglass mark engraved on the rock and gave a gentle pat on the hounds that were gathered around him. He'd left the rest of the soldiers by the beach, as they would only work to hinder him and the hounds. They were creatures of shadow now – they were the only masters where there was no light. They didn't need soldiers clumsily trying to follow them through the forest.

"They disappeared behind this?" Condor asked the hounds even though he knew they couldn't answer him. They continued to bark at the rock and paw at it with their oversized claws. He looked at it for some time longer, and then he pressed a button located on the edge of his metallic face. There was a small sizzle of static, and a voice answered on the other end. It was a flat, cynical voice that held a sliver of amusement.

"Hello?"

"This is Condor. The targets have escaped, and as suspected they are capable of sorcery."

"Oh, that's wonderful they escaped!"

Condor hesitated. "Er… wonderful?"

The voice laughed. "Oh no no, I mean, it's not wonderful you have to chase them down again. What I mean is that we now know that they can do sorcery as predicted, and it's wonderful when I'm right."

"They've disappeared behind a stone with an engraving of an hourglass. I suspect it's some sort of temple like the floating Palace."

"I see. Well, there may be something I want in there. Let them find it, and corner them when they do."

"Yes sir."

"And have you attached the interference device somewhere on Vaati?"

"The Engst boy? Yes sir. It was attached on the back of his belt while he was unconscious."

"Perfect! Now they won't be able to go to anywhere but Guam, where we'll be waiting for him and Mr. Dugal." The voice paused to talk to someone else, laughed drunkenly for a few seconds, and then returned to Condor. "Right, so go and find out what they're doing. Good luck."

Condor was about to hang up but the voice hurriedly stopped him.

"Oh, and before you go just one thing."

"Yes sir?"

"Let them think they're winning this chase. There's nothing more priceless than taking away someone's sense of victory." The voice whispered, "Am I right?"

"… Yes, Mr. Secretary."

XXXXXXXXX

"Thyme, do you know what my hobby is?"

"I can name a few. Being impossible. Lying. Making weird things that shoot water and gasoline."

"Those aren't hobbies. That's just a part of what I am."

"Whatever."

"My hobby is figuring out the things people are hiding. I want to know every one of everyone's secrets. Except maybe intimate information – there's such a thing as knowing too much."

"Sooo you're basically a creeper."

"And then I can blackmail them to do my bidding!"

"Sometimes I wonder why no one has ever tried to kill you."

"What makes you think no one's ever tried?"

"All right, I give up. You win."

"Sometimes it's easy to find secrets. Sometimes you just have to corner them, and see what they do once they think they're out of options."

"Are you talking about torture?"

"No need to back away from me like that, Thyme! Do I look like someone who would torture someone?"

"I don't know…"

"Pfft, I would never stoop to that level."

"I feel that the stubborn ones would clam up even more if you corner them."

"And that's why you have to corner them, but at the same time let them think they're smarter than you. That's basically what the government is doing, to corner Talon Three. You'll see. The government is going to win."

* * *

fleets: Sorry, it's one of my shorter chapters but I had to cut it off here. I introduce yet another character this chapter, a 'Mr. Secretary.' If you know your honorifics you'll know that it's a title. :P But yeesh I have so many characters running around in this story it's getting hard to keep track of them all.  
Still don't really know what happened to Condor. Don't worry, I'll get to that. Just not now.  
Thistle and Thyme are back again! It's been a while since we last heard from them. I know Thistle's convo sometimes sound like pointless nonsense, but he's been dropping subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle hints every time he appears.  
But like Condor it'll only make sense later. Hehe sorry guys! :P

**Midna Hytwilian: **Haha thanks!**  
**

**Purplegc: **Thistle's not going to appear for a few more chapters, but it's soooo close! I can't wait until he's in this story for real instead of just hiding behind dialogue with Thyme. I read about it a year ago, so it's fairly recent. You should also check out the robot drones they're trying to develop to fight for us instead of sending infantry to the frontlines. :O It's getting crazy out there.**  
**

**Lord Lithos Maitreya: **Ack, sorry! Thanks, I'll see this to the end, don't worry :) ('specially since I have a really fun ending in mind that I really, really want to write). **  
**

**Reily96: **He went through something, but what, and whyyyy? I'm not telling. XD At least not for 1-2 chappies. And I made Dugal lose his composure once again. He's losing his touch lawlz.**  
**

**Sapphiet: **Hawkeye was the name of the university newspaper, which he was the editor of. It wasn't actually his nickname until Dugal just stuck that label on him ;) **  
**

**henslight: **Hmm, I think you might be thinking of Harrier (the guy who wouldn't die). Condor didn't really show up other than as Dugal's car driver. And yeah, all those guys are getting what they deserved but at the end of the day they're only human. Everyone makes mistakes, and in this case it was a serious one. **  
**

**SubZeroChimera: **Orrrr those two finally get their shit together and have something work for a change :P **  
**

**msfcatlover: **Yeah I think he'd appreciate the badass title. Though the badass title is still hard to keep since he's still following someone's orders. Condor's a follower type of guy hahaha.**  
**

**Kate: **They got out of it pretty easily this time, actually. Well, for now XD. And hurrah new account! :D 


	12. Introduction to Magitech

fleets: HI EVERYONE LONG TIME NO SEE! (crickets chirp) ah... I guess people left after I didn't update for over a year...  
oh well. Anyway, for anyone who is left, I am officially back from the hiatus because Rend is OVER. Hurrah! Since it has been such a long time, I would highly recommend you start from the beginning again, but at the same time I know none of us really has a lot of time to spare in this fast paced world. SO do whatever you like, lovely readers!

Why do I always update in the dead of night? T_T

Welcome back :)

* * *

**Chapter 12: Introduction to Magi-tech**

Dark knew that Talon Three had lots of tricks to remain hidden, but he hadn't really appreciated just how many tricks they had. After Hawk had gone over the rough plans on what they were going to do, it had been determined that their first order of business was to get the hell out of the United States so they would be less at risk for getting caught. Dark didn't really know how they were going to smuggle themselves past immigration, especially with the government on the alert to watch for them, but somehow…

It had been a combination of subtle makeup (Dark had actually watched Kestrel transform from Asian to dark-haired Caucasian with deceptively simple makeup), impressively believable fake passports, and perhaps most impressive of all, a carefully placed correspondent at immigration itself who let them through without any questions besides a harmless "how was your flight?" It had been done so smoothly that Dark hadn't really noticed they were risking a lot in their attempt to leave the country. Bates, however, didn't seem all that surprised.

"Organization. Discipline. Charisma. The networking and capital to acquire coadjutors where you need them. That's what you need to dictate the sublunary world the way you desiderate."Dark heard Bates murmur in his mind.

"Acquire the what? Bates man, I understood barely half of that," Dark muttered, trying not to make it obvious that he was speaking to a creature invisible to everyone but him.

The little sentry eye hovered just behind Dark, and he could hear its deep 'dark lord' voice by his head. "Coadjutors. Accomplices. Bribed idiots. Lord Vaati would commend this conception."

"Ohhhh bribed idiots. Talking to you, I can imagine all the idiots Vaati likes to keep by his side."

"How incredibly rude, brat."

The only information that was given to Dark by the two former Talon men were that they were going to the famous university city of Cambridge in England. They had a few useful connections there if they ever needed assistance, and some powerful ones at that. They explained to dark that the connections were only to be used in an absolute emergency, as there was more risk for them the more people were involved. Apparently they also had a safe refuge apartment within the idyllic city, and as the taxi maneuvered them through the roads to their destination, Dark took in his first view of the skies in Europe. They weren't nearly as rain inflicted as foreigners tended to fuss about, and he figured he could have appreciated the quaint streets of proud gothic architecture if he weren't here for less-than-legal reasons. He peered at the narrow streets, reasonable only for bicycles and pedestrians, that wound their way through the buildings like wormholes tunneling through an apple: this place had ample places for a runaway to slip away if there ever was a need for that…

Dark yawned. He was tired. Travelling always made him tired, and this time they had boarded the plane dead in the night. They finally pulled up in a district a few miles away from the university where many cyclists zipped through the streets. Dark guessed they were going to do a bit of walking to reach the actual apartment, though, as an extra precaution – there was no need for the taxi driver to know where the three of them were actually going. Ugh, walking. Dark hoped he'd have time to lie down and rest a little once they reached the safe house.

"Don't yawn on us now, Darkie."

Kestrel's voice made the teenager snap his half-lidded eyes open. "Hm?" he murmured tiredly.

"You're with us now, and when you're with us you'll be following our policies. And that means we work right away. Word of advice," Kestrel, flicked his sunglasses with his thumb, "coffee's your best friend. There'll be lots of it at the apartment."

Dark's face fell, and then he sighed dejectedly. "Thanks…"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"We're going to assume they're not going to follow us inside, then," Vaati stated, leading the way with a tiny magical flame that lighted the dark abyss of the forgotten temple. As they made their way along the narrow passageway that led them along a straight path, the sorcerer took the time to light each torch they passed so that they would be able to follow the exit faster, should an emergency turn up.

Dugal seemed calm and collected, but his hands twitching constantly to his pistol betrayed his agitation. "We'll work on that assumption until we're proven wrong, Mr. Engst."

"Oh ho, the flawless Talon leader is actually improvising now? This is going to be perfect isn't it," Vaati's sneering face was lit up by the fire he held just in front of his chin.

"They had a few tricks I hadn't accounted for."

Vaati stopped in his tracks as the walls that had hugged them up until now parted. The light no longer bounced off the walls, because they had stepped into a room of sorts. The sorcerer took a cautious step forward, wary of traps. "You know, if those hounds _do_ manage to follow us here then they're going to force us in a difficult spot. I won't be able to use my best abilities without risking a cave-in, and if we get surrounded by lots of those things then I'm not sure how long I can keep them at bay. They're at an advantage in the dark."

The sorcerer took a deep breath, and then took his chances. He focused on the small flame that flickered at the center of his palms until there were three large flames that burst outward, lighting up the entire room. Two of them grazed a few more torches in the room, making it easier to see what they were dealing with.

And what they were dealing with was a slumbering temple, effectively dead after years and years of being forgotten.

Vaati hadn't actually been to a temple had turned dormant. He knew about the skittish dungeon poes that were caretakers of pretty much every dungeon in existence: they lit the torches that had gone out and they stocked the pots with whatever objects that had been left lying around, from stray arrows to money. The dungeon poes had long since abandoned this temple, and now all that was left was a lifeless husk of what the dungeon had been back in the day.

Dust covered pots lined the old stone walls, decorated with cracked murals of armored creatures that appeared not unlike the Darknuts Vaati was acquainted with, back in the day. The only door in the room was blocked by huge chunks of debris that was impossible to move: a cave-in had blocked the room on the other side. A cracked pot had fallen on top of a floor switch, but the mechanism appeared to be broken as rust-tipped spikes poked only half-way above the floor just in front of it. The wind mage walked towards the trap and poked it with his foot, causing the pot to crumble. The switch was released, and there was a labored creaking as some of the spikes appeared stuck where they were.

"This place is dead, Dugal. Why did you need my help for dealing with these rusted traps?" Vaati called over his shoulder. He quickly found, however, that Dugal had already made his way over to a section of the floor that had crumbled away to the depths below. A steel cable that had been installed from a recent, previous visit was drilled secured to the side of the wall and provided a means down. Dugal flicked a small flashlight on and wordlessly dropped down, but only after giving Vaati a quick nod to follow him.

Vaati frowned, then shrugged, and then peered over the edge. There wasn't anything to worry about a dormant temple, right? And besides, if any traps were still active then that fool Dugal would take the damage for him, going on ahead like that. The sorcerer gently floated down after Dugal who stood waiting for him below, illuminated by the tiny dot of his flashlight.

"It's not as dead as you might think, Mr. Engst," Dugal started to explain as soon as Vaati caught up, his voice echoing eerily through the temple. "You'll see soon enough. It was just asleep until – "

"Until someone stupidly meddled here. Got it."

The Talon leader's face flickered with dangerous irritation. "Not many people are as disrespectful to me as you for a reason, by the way."

"I'm older than anyone on this planet, brat, so I'm allowed to be as disrespectful as I want," Vaati snapped.

Dugal frowned, tried to wrap the teenager's (?) words around his head for a few seconds, and then decided it wasn't even worth arguing. It would make him feel dumber for wasting his time arguing seriously about his age against a kid who appeared years younger than him… Instead, he waved his flashlight around the room they were in. "This is where I need your assistance," the round opening of the light swept across a small pillar about five feet high situated in the middle of the room. There was a glass crystal, fogged black in some spots because some dust had burned there recently. Vaati's eyebrows arched slightly in familiarity: the thing reminded him of one of those fire-spewing pillars that were often found in dungeons across Hyrule. Dugal continued, walking over some cracked tiles and towards a switch on the floor. The flashlight waved towards the door on the other side of the room, past the suspicious pillar. "I thought this switch might open that door on the other side, but it turned out to have quite a different effect. I need you to find a way through that door for me."

The sorcerer walked around the room with mild curiosity and came to the conclusion that the only things of interest in the room were the door, the pillar, and the switch. "What did the switch do?" he asked, though he had an idea. Unless dungeon architecture had changed drastically since the time he'd reigned to the last age they'd been built, he knew that while dungeons could be complicated, the layout of individual rooms usually weren't: i.e. everything you saw was what you needed to solve the 'puzzle' in the room.

"Just a case of fireballs that chase you around the room…" Dugal absentmindedly brushed some dust off his suit, as though he didn't want to be reminded of his previous trip here.

"Okay, great. Press the switch." Vaati smiled to himself, enjoying the discomfort of the former Talon leader.

Dugal placed his foot hesitantly on the floor switch. He stopped just before it clicked into the floor. "Are you going to tell me what you plan to do?"

"Oh I don't know," Vaati was positively grinning now, much to the other man's annoyance, "I thought I'd _improvise_," he stressed the last word, drawing it out accusingly.

Dugal gave a short sigh and rolled his eyes behind his glasses. "I understand you're annoyed…" he trailed off. Then, with a tight-lipped frown he stepped down onto the pressure plate.

The room lit up with a flash of fire bursting from the pillar in the middle of the room. Small flares circled with increasing speed around the glowing crystal until it met in the center to form a floating fireball. Dugal had backed away to the corner of the room, not too eager to be the one who would be chased after by the fireball, while Vaati watched it lazily. The fire floated in place just above the pillar for a few seconds, and then it charged towards the Vaati.

The sorcerer raised a palm full of concentrated wind energy and casually shot it towards the flame and pillar. It exploded towards it with incredible force, snuffing out the light before it shattered the crystal on top of the pillar. The room went completely dark except for Dugal's lonely flashlight that zipped around on alert. There were a few uncertain seconds where nothing happened, and then there was a small chime that reverberated throughout the room. At the same time, the torches along the walls lit up automatically and the door groaned open.

Vaati bit his lip, holding back his wave of snickers at seeing Dugal's reaction towards everything magical. The man had done an admirable job to keep his composure, but his knuckles were tense around the small black flashlight and his gaze was still stuck on the broken pillar. "Feel free to stay behind, Dugal. I can probably navigate the dungeon faster if I go alone." His red eyes narrowed slyly. "And we can raise my share to eighty-five percent while we're at it."

Dugal snapped back to his collected demeanor and rudely brushed past Vaati. "If you would be so kind as to warn me when you do… that…" he waved his hands towards Vaati's palms, "next time. And absolutely not. We agreed to fifty-five and fourty-five."

The sorcerer scrunched his nose, and then hurried after the snippety Armani suit full of insufferable human. "What? Wasn't the deal sixty-five and thirty-five?"

Dugal barely glanced back, but Vaati could just imagine the grin in the other man's voice. "Hm? Oh, didn't you keep proof of documentation that stated our agreed contract?"

"Uh… what?"

"You even signed it and everything. We can discuss it when we're done with this whole thing, Mr. Engst," Dugal continued smoothly.

Vaati threw his arms up in the air. "I never signed anything so – "

"_Exactly_," the former Talon leader interrupted him sharply, completely changing the turn of the conversation and whirling around. "So it's pretty childish, don't you think, to be caught up in the numbers of who gets what?"

Vaati blanched. His grin had completely vanished and was trying to decide what expression to make. When the other man ended the conversation with a terse, disapproving frown, Vaati's grin decided to stick with a confused, embarrassed squiggle. He didn't really feel confident when it came to winning against things with legal nitpicky rules. He was much used to blowing things up. So of course he'd needed signatures right? Argh… he messed up this time and…

Vaati's squiggle turned into a frown. _Wait a second…_

Dugal had been just as caught up with numbers as he was, so that meant that the bastard had simply said that to turn the tide of the conversation against him.

Just because Vaati had made fun of him a little.

Vaati boiled up at the thought that Dugal had managed to shatter his momentum like that, just by distracting him with an unrelated topic and acting like it had actually meant something. He'd been completely tricked into thinking he'd messed up, and that angered him the most.

Vaati's gaze hardened at the silhouette of the man who he was sure was laughing quietly to himself now.

And that's when he decided…

Armani looked better in flames.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Kestrel hadn't been kidding when he'd said they'd get to work right away. Even though they were all exhausted from travelling, Kestrel had seemed fine working, even with having only five hours of sleep on the plane and working for several hours straight without resting. The dining table had been taken over with all of his things, and had effectively become "Kestrel's desk." He had his computer, some black box device connected to it, a few weird gadgets, two cans of Red Bull, a cup of coffee, four water bottles, and packets of trail mix and potato chips strewn around all over the table.

Dark wasn't really sure when the dining table had turned into some kind of junk-apocalypse, but that was what he arrived to when he was woken up by the voices of the Talon men the next morning. He stirred from the couch, batted away Bates who had tumbled off the pillow and was now fluttering irritably around his face, and tried to catch the conversation that was going on. Kestrel was tapping his fingers on his mouse with a frustrated rat-tat-tat as he spoke to Hawk.

"I can't do it. I'm stuck! There're bits and pieces I can gather from all the messages related to the government but I can't prove anything, you know what I'm saying? It's like when you get a multiple choice question and they ask you how apples and oranges are related, and you _know_ the answer is 'fruit,' but the only answer you can circle is 'vegetable.' And you just want to write the answer yourself but instead of a pencil, all you have is an eraser? Do you get what I'm saying?"

"Mmm kind of," Hawk replied, scratching his head. "So what do you think the answer is that you just can't get at?"

Kestrel's sunglasses bobbled as his nose twitched. "There's a point person who's being included in all of the information streams, but it's a hidden correspondent. Look here," he pointed at the mess of codes on the screen for one of the cables he had been looking at. As Dark approached groggily, he could see a few names on there in the decoded encryption Kestrel was pointing at that he figured were the people the message was addressed to. "See that?" Kestrel moved his fingers to a jumble of Egyptian hieroglyphics that were randomly dancing in the middle of the code. "I've never seen anything like it, okay? Maple-"

"- The computer," Hawk interrupted with a roll of his eyes, turning to Dark briefly when the teen had joined them.

"- registers that there's supposed to be information there, but it's a garbled mess," Kestrel continued onwards, disregarding the interruption. "All I get are symbols that don't mean anything, and any time I try to get at it," he typed a few commands into the computer, "it turns into something else," he finished with a lopsided frown as the symbols transformed into happy faces and flowers.

Dark leaned forward and couldn't help but laugh a little. "They seem to be having fun," he grinned, watching the happy faces rolling in place between the letters, "I didn't know the government hired people like that."

"We don't even know if he's with the government," Hawk muttered, "we don't know anything about him, except that he's included in every single one of the correspondents in the government. Even the highly confidential ones."

At this point, Bates flew close to the monitor so that his pupils were almost passing through the screen. "Well if that isn't an integrated spell block, quite carefully crafted I'd say."

"What's that, Bates?" Dark watched the little sentry eye dart around the screen. The other two lifted their heads at the mention of Bates.

The sentry eye swirled up to Dark's level. "A spell block, imbecile. Why, can't you see it?"

"No."

"None of you can see it?"

Dark glanced briefly at Hawk and Kestrel who seemed to be waiting for an explanation patiently, since they couldn't see or hear Bates at all. "No, probably not."

Bates stared at them, as astonished a creature with only an eye could appear, and then proceeded to laugh in his booming evil overlord laugh. The sentry flew around in small circles, giggling maniacally and occasionally snorting something about 'philistine primates." Dark watched with unamused impatience while Kestrel batted his right ear, where Bates was currently fluttering around.

"Does anyone else hear squeaking?" Talon's techie asked.

Dark replied with a huff. "Believe me, you'll stop calling him squeaky once you actually hear his voice." He reached over for two silver decorative plates and held them over the sentry threateningly. "All right Bates, cut it out or I'm going to stick you between these plates and then squeeze you under a dictionary."

Bates immediately stopped laughing, seeing Dark towering over him with the two intimidating plates. The sentry shrunk back, and then muttered to himself, sinking down onto the keyboard. Bates sulked, glancing back at the code from time to time with as sour an expression a single eye could make. After the third glance back, however, something occurred to him and he slowly unfurled its wings. "Imbecile… if I release the spell block, will we be able to postulate the location of Lord Vaati?" he asked somewhat timidly with a small, hopeful glimmer in his eye.

Dark tapped his chin, "Hmm, maybe."

Hawk, getting impatient from not being able to hear what Bates was saying, cut in, "Darkie, what are you discussing?"

Dark broke his gaze away from, what he had to admit was pretty adorable, pitiful stare of Vaati's loyal sentry eye. "Bates here was saying there's something called a spell block on that line of code, and that he can remove it."

"I would have to coordinate my erudition with the one with the optic shielders."

"He wants to work together with Kestrel." Dark supplied, speaking slowly as his brain worked at translating Bates' esoteric English. "And those are called sunglasses, Bates," he added a little later.

"Me?" Kestrel looked around for the invisible sentry to no avail. "That demon thing of yours can help me decipher this code?"

Dark turned towards Bates who was now flying in circles around the Talon techie. "I will assist in recovering Lord Vaati." The sentry stopped circling Kestrel eagerly and flew up towards Dark's nose. "Relinquish the red round earth fragment to the technology gentleman so that he may visualize what I visualize."

"What, give him this?" Dark brought out the small red stone with the eye marking etched into it.

Kestrel's eyebrows scrunched together. "What's that?" he peered over his sunglasses, "Will that curse me?" He still hadn't forgotten about what Dark had said about Bates before.

"Eh, probably. At the very least, what he says will give you a headache." Dark tossed the small stone towards Kestrel. "Here, catch."

The other man yelped and fumbled with the stone in surprise as it landed in his palms, and he had a petrified expression as he resisted the urge to fling it away. He slowly let his gaze fall on Bates who was watching him with eager anticipation. "H-hi there," Kestrel managed uncertainly at the flying eyeball that had materialized in his vision. He was more taken aback by Bates' voice when he finally heard it: he'd imagined something squeakier, just like Dark had.

"We will immediately begin disentangling the spell block," Bates ordered.

"Wh-"

_Whoosh!_

Dark watched in amusement as Kestrel's left eye shone red behind his shades without warning, and the startled man shook his head at the sudden new view of Bates' vision. "Augh, what the hell!" Kestrel squeezed his eyes shut, and for a few seconds he nodded occasionally, most likely in response to something the invisible sentry was saying. Finally, with much trepidation, Kestrel slowly opened his eyes again. His eyes darted around in overwhelmed nervousness, and then gradually relaxed into a state of awe. "Whoa… are those like, runes? Like magic?" he peered at the computer screen.

There was a brief pause where Bates was no doubt answering the question, and then Kestrel pointed at the screen. What followed didn't sound too different from someone talking to a foreigner on the phone.

"So those things are blocking access to the code, you're saying?"

"Er, what? You mean…"

"Okay okay, slow down. I didn't catch that."

"… Do you speak English?"

Dark shook his head with a pitying grin as Kestrel continued to talk to the empty air where Bates was, having apparent difficulty in understanding the sentry eye's words. He pat the other man on the shoulder good luck, and went to lie back down on the couch. Hawk tilted his head wonderingly and then leaned against the wall, watching Kestrel talk to the invisible sentry with a confused expression. "Is your demon that difficult to understand?" Hawk asked Dark with curiosity. "Like old English or something?"

Dark snorted. "Oh, it wouldn't be bad at all if it were Old English. Bates just has a language of his own," he rolled his eyes.

"Huh." Hawk shrugged. He looked at Kestrel again, who appeared to be having a little more fun this time, tapping his keyboard and making exclamations about how cool everything was, and also explaining to Bates what all the computer commands were that he was using. Considering how Kestrel's tech speak was often gibberish enough, he figured that was Kestrel's revenge on having to deal with the garbled English of Bates. Well, it wasn't his problem now.

Hawk stretched. "I'm going out to buy lunch."

He was about to walk out the door, when Dark's voice stopped him. "Hey, Hawk."

The other man looked back over his shoulder. The teen was lying on the couch, but he was far from relaxed. He looked up at the ceiling with a concerned furrow of his brow. "Magic in a computer code. In government cables. What do you make of it?"

Hawk sighed, and then turned away uncertainly. "I'm not sure what to think anymore, Dark. I haven't been sure about anything, really, since the disaster with Avilux," Hawk added with a weak chuckle. "I mean, magic? Who believes that? But the deeper we delve into this the more confusing this becomes. Why is the government connected to all of this?"

Dark nodded. "Think about it, though. They're making a big deal out of finding Vaati, and there are few people who have more connections to magic than he does. All of this sorcery business… it's all pointing to the government. They have something related to magic that they're not sharing with the public, you can't deny that."

Hawk didn't say a word, lost in his own thoughts. He agreed absent-mindedly, but he was busy remembering something from the past.

The Air Force Academy. The incident with the shard. The unreasonable and sudden dismissal of everyone involved, including himself when he had been too nosey about it…

Maybe they weren't thinking far back enough. Perhaps this whole thing with magic and secrets was something that had begun much, much farther back than the deal with Avilux I.

Whatever it was, were they ready to deal with it? What if this whole mission was a much bigger scale than they were envisioning?

"I… think I'll go buy lunch," Hawk repeated quietly.

* * *

fleets: Dugal had it coming. Really, he did. Vaati's not a super patient fellow.  
Anyways, this chapter was more to get me back into things - I haven't written about the OA world in a looong time. And speaking of long time, I have a feeling most of the reviewers I'm replying to here have left this story for dead ;n;

**Lord Siravant: **Mr. Secretary? You'll be introduced to him relatively soon, I think ;)

**SubZeroChimera: **Thistle definitely knows a bit too much, huh? I would agree with that XD

**purplegc:** Dugal wouldn't worry about trackers since he knows that they know he's on the same tiny island with them. He's planning to look for trackers later, but there's no way he'd know that this particular device forces Vaati's teleports to send them to Guam no matter what. Magic isn't his expertise, and he'd expect even less for the government to know anything about it.

**Reily96: **You'll find out pretty soon. Less than 4 chapters at the very least.

**henslight:** Yes, we can't forget that Dugal has the Phantom Hourglass somewhere! ;)

**Midna Hytwilian: **He's having a rough week with magic craziness and all. Maybe he's getting too old for this XD

**jioplip: ** Let's see, if I remember right, your chess analogy is pretty good so far. Thistle's a player I'll tell you that much ;) Condor as Black Queen? You are good! And you probably already finished by now, but I loved Super Paper Mario.

**msfcatlover: **Dugal and Vaati: fighting ensuing... now.

**Sapphiet: **Seeing as how they're working together now, Dugal and Vaati don't seem to be in a good spot to win against the government :P

**meefgal:** You don't annoy me at all! Haha and I'll take that as a compliment :) my goal is to keep my stories unpredictable for everyone, for as long as possible hehehe

**Centikkime: **Awww thank you so much! I always get insecure about OCs since I've always avoided them when I was only on this website to read stuff (it's really difficult to have them fit in a story naturally, I guess...). And hmmm, I'm not familiar with those but I always enjoy being introduced to new bands! I'll definitely check them out now, so thanks! :D

**Vexam Authoress: **Haha so these messages are replies by me to people who reviewed :) This is so that even anonymous reviewers can read a response from me. Also, using this system, it's like an unofficial promise that I'll be back with a next chapter so I can reply to everyone :)

**i-wish-799: **Yep! You'll see pretty soon. Though... I guess you wrote that review over a year ago so you might not even see this reply T_T


	13. Thistle and Thyme

****fleets: I reaaaaaaally wanted to reach this chapter for so long. You'll see why.

* * *

**Chapter 13: Thistle and Thyme**

Vaati wasn't completely sure what, exactly, had happened in the past few minutes. He and Dugal were now in the very deepest part of the temple, several feet away from the surface, in some kind of abandoned safe room. The most pressing issue, however, were the big, clunky Darknut armor that stalked around them in slow, deliberate steps, searching for them. They were invincible, as far as Vaati could tell, unlike normal Darknuts he was familiar with. They were Phantoms.

He looked next to him at Dugal who was catching his breath, pressed up against the wall with him. The floor glowed softly beneath their feet in a narrow, rectangular panel, lighting their faces in pastel pink and green. They had been arguing moments before, but now they were deathly quiet, waiting for the Phantoms to make their rounds. The towering guardian armor couldn't see them as long as they stood within the bounds of the glowing tiles on the floor.

"I hope you take responsibility for this, Mr. Engst," Dugal hissed between his teeth.

Vaati snorted. "You know, I think I'll just leave you here."

What had happened earlier had been confusing and unfortunate. They had been at least three flights up above where they were now, and Vaati had been fuming at the fact that Dugal had belittled him. With a scorching glare, and finally running out of the last of his patience, Vaati had sent a small fireball towards the man strutting ahead of him.

Dugal had caught the sizzle of the incoming attack, and with the reflexes of a cat he'd ducked out of the way, his left hand reaching for his pistol.

And he'd shot the first thing nearest to him that moved, which happened to be a crystal switch on a moving platform, which had been coincidentally activated by Vaati's fireball that Dugal had dodged.

And then, before either of them could react, the switch had activated a heavy stone door that groaned upwards before it crashed back down, the old and faulty mechanisms finally failing it. The sudden crash had shattered the fragile floor beneath their feet, and they had fallen three flights down with the stone floors crumbling down with them.

Vaati had floated down gracefully, thanks to his levitation magic, but he hadn't been too sure about what had happened to Dugal. A part of him had hoped he'd been crushed with the falling debris: he'd meant to get rid of him now that he'd determined the man's usefulness was done, and this was a convenient accident. The sorcerer summoned a light in his palm and let it illuminate the ground below before he landed quietly on the nearest rubble. Piles and piles of masonry had fallen from three stories above, and he would have been surprised if Dugal had managed to survive this. It would have taken a miracle…

A fit of coughing had caused Vaati to whirl towards the source of the sound, and he saw a rather dusty Dugal coughing up powder smoke that had welled up from the debris. He'd been almost completely unhurt, except for a few places where it had appeared he had taken a good hit, but other than that he seemed fine. What had been the most suspicious for Vaati was the fact that the Talon leader had been nowhere near the rubble or below the hole in the ceiling where he should have fallen through. How had he gotten there so fast, and how come he wasn't crushed beneath the rocks? It had to be that mysterious power Condor had mentioned that was supposedly in Dugal's possession, but just what could it be?

Before Dugal could recover, Vaati had immediately warped beside him with one hand full of concentrated dark magic. The man stood still, and then slowly narrowed his eyes behind his glasses. "Mr. Engst."

"I've come to the conclusion that I've no reason to keep you around any longer, Dugal," Vaati had sneered, "We're at the temple already, and there's nothing I will gain from having you around." He'd been so ready, then, to say goodbye to Dugal for good. "You know, don't you? You can see it in my eyes: I've killed before. And I won't hesitate to do it again. Before I do, though, I want you to tell me about this artifact of yours. You have something that's potentially powerful. The government knows about this too. What is it?"

Vaati recalled seeing one of the most frightening expressions he'd seen anyone make before Dugal had vanished in a blink of an eye. He hadn't been scared, of course not. He was just taking note that it would have frightened the majority of the population if they had been on the other side of that glare…

Anyways, yes, Dugal had vanished. Completely disappeared in a split second and before Vaati could figure what had happened, he'd felt the barrel of a gun pressed against the back of his head.

"You are far too cocky, Mr. Engst," he'd heard Dugal's menacing voice behind him.

Vaati could have theoretically teleported out of there and then had shot a volley towards the other man as a surprise attack, but he couldn't rule out the possibility of Dugal doing his vanishing trick again. Instead, he summoned a sentry eye similar to Bates with the hand that wasn't charging an energy ball. Dugal couldn't see the sentry, of course, so he wouldn't suspect anything suspicious.

He'd noticed something weird, then. He'd been under the impression that Dugal no longer used his right hand to hold weapons ever since he'd gotten the prosthetic arm, but the man was using his right hand to point a pistol at him now. His left hand, however, was pressed against the crook of his right arm's elbow, just at the joint of the prosthetic.

It didn't take long for Vaati to figure out that the most likely location of Dugal's hidden artifact was somewhere on the prosthetic arm itself.

"What are you doing?"

Dugal's sharp voice prompted Vaati to wonder if he'd somehow detected the fluttering sentry as well. He released the sentry where it vanished completely. The sorcerer couldn't come up with any way Dugal would have been able to notice it. Vaati's confusion was evident when he answered, "No. Why?"

"There's something glowing a few feet ahead of us, and it's been doing that ever since you've summoned that energy sphere of yours, Mr. Engst. I'll have no choice but to shoot you dead if you continue to prove hostile."

"Huh?" Vaati took a better look around the room, and just as Dugal had indicated, there was a glowing red object a few feet away from them. It was on a pedestal of some kind, spared from the falling debris from earlier. The sorcerer squinted to get a better look. It was a red gem of some kind, about the size of a nectarine. It pulsated with energy at the same frequency as the energy in his hands…

Vaati released the spell in his hands, and the room went completely dark, including the large red gem. He summoned the spell again, and instantly the red gem began to glow once more.

There was no doubt: it was reacting to his magic, and there were only a few reasons why it would do so.

"It… can't be," he took a step forward, not caring then if Dugal really did decide to shoot him in the head. He walked toward the red gem at a quickening pace before he stopped abruptly before it, unsure of how to continue.

It was the gem from The Cap. His Cap. The goddess-damned cap that had started it all. The large red gem lit up his face with an eerie red light full of evil intentions. No doubt it reflected the dark magic he had summoned in his hands.

What was it doing here? All this time, he had been under the impression that the Wishing Cap, the very thing that had transformed an inconsequential creature into the infamous Sorcerer of Winds, had been destroyed. He'd searched for it during his second return, but he'd been informed that the cap had disintegrated after the young princess of Hyrule had wished for the undoing of the evil he had spread across the land.

Vaati's eyes widened in understanding. That was it… the cap had been destroyed, yes, but that didn't necessarily mean that its components had been destroyed as well. He could just imagine what had happened now, during the Wishing Cap's last moments; the fabric disintegrating into the air and leaving behind the durable core component of the cap, the red gem. The Hyrule royalty must have hidden it away, protecting it deep within a temple to prevent ill-intentioned hands from getting it. And now, after millennia of being locked away in this lonely temple, it had become forgotten in legends of old until they had stumbled upon it once again.

How ironic that it was he, its original master, who would rediscover it here after so long.

Vaati had seen the design of the cap in Ezlo's old notes before – this gem was the key. It was a rare, ultra-condensed crystalline form of occult energy, and as such it was highly sensitive to the will of the soul. It must have reacted to his magic, especially since his sorcery was similar to the type of signature it emitted. Magical resonance, that's what it was. Kind of how tuning forks vibrate when they're in the vicinity of the sound frequency they resonate to.

Vaati hesitantly reached for the gem. He still couldn't believe that he had been reunited with this trouble-making thing.

With this he…

_With this, I can recreate the Wishing Cap._

Vaati touched the gem and picked it up in his hands.

As soon as he had done so, a low _Whummm_ reverberated from the pedestal, and red runes shot out from it, creeping up the floor and along the walls like insects crawling away. The runes scattered towards the numerous pieces of armor standing guard along the walls, and they also lit up some panels on the floor. He was able to catch a small piece of ancient Hylian text before all chaos ensued.

It had read: _Hearts tainted with greed are unworthy. Awaken will the guardians who will bring judgment upon you. May the goddesses have mercy, for the Phantoms will not._

"Before you shoot me, Dugal, I didn't plan for this to happen!" Vaati shouted over his shoulder as the hollow armor guardians sprung to life with metallic groans. Two lifeless orbs of red light glowed from behind their helmets, and the sorcerer really didn't like how many red dots he was seeing surrounding them. The sorcerer cracked his knuckles, and braced himself for the first Phantom that had run up to charge him. He gave it the most powerful blast of magic he could summon, and the walls shook and trembled from the sheer force of magical power.

And then the trembling immediately stopped when the Phantom swung its great sword and split the spell in two as though it were swatting away a fly.

"What the hell fuck is this shit!" Vaati didn't notice he had momentarily reverted to Gale-ism in his complete shock. He shot two more volleys and a searing laser beam, but all of them bounced off of the resilient armor as though they were nothing.

_What is this?_! Vaati's mind ran as he stood nearly petrified, watching the Darknut armor lifting its sword towards him, approaching ever closer. _How can that be? Did they finally invent spell dissonance cancelation during the years I was gone? What the fuck!_

He was moments away from being crushed by the Phantom's sword when there had been that sensation again: the sensation of being pulled through a ton of jello before entering a timeless existence. As soon as the sensation ended, he was in some different location of the temple, far away from the Phantoms, although he could still hear their metallic footsteps clattering persistently in search. Dugal held him by the arm and was looking at him with an expression of contained fury. The soft light glowing from the panel beneath their feet lit up his satanically for added effect.

"Er…"

"Just keep your mouth shut, Mr. Engst, before I decide I'd made the wrong choice." Dugal snapped. "I just might forgive your conduct earlier if you get us out of this mess."

"Only because you can't get out of here alone," Vaati muttered, turning away in shame from having been rescued. He patted the pocket of his jeans, making sure that the red gem was still there. He felt the cool touch of the stone, and then gave a short breath of relief. That was one thing he wasn't willing to lose, here.

An ominous clank of metal hitting stone sounded uncomfortably close by, and the two looked around wildly to see where the Phantom was approaching from.

It walked into view, two intimidating red orbs glowing from the darkness, searching. The Phantom stepped forward in slow, deliberate steps.

"_Now what?_" Vaati mouthed with some urgency as the Phantom approached. More footsteps sounded from other Phantoms wandering the vicinity.

"_Wait,"_ Dugal put a hand on the sorcerer's shoulder, stopping him from making any bold maneuvers. The two stared at the animated armor that walked towards them. Then, it tilted its helmet with a rusty creak as though it was confused, and then it turned away to search elsewhere. "_They can't see us here."_

They each took a moment to catch their breaths. Vaati hadn't been aware of how he had become short on breath, surprised as he was because of the complete ineffectiveness of his spells and becoming dangerously close to being dead.

Not that, you know, he feared death since he'd gone through with deadness so many times already.

And so that was the situation now. Vaati was now surrounded by magically animated, perhaps truly invincible armor called Phantoms. He had his hands on something that could potentially revive the Wishing Cap.

And he still hadn't been able to light Dugal up like a birthday candle.

"_Unless you can think of a way to get rid of these things, Mr. Engst, I believe we are done here."_ Dugal hissed under his breath.

Vaati sighed. He really wasn't too keen on saving this bastard's hide as well but…

He couldn't really leave whatever powerful artifact Dugal had behind, could he? As soon as they got out of this place, maybe. He'd gotten his hands on what he'd wanted, after all. This whole ordeal was about to be over very, very soon.

At least that's what his optimism prayed for.

"Hmph." Vaati huffed, and then with a quick sweep of his hands, he warped them away from the terrifying temple.

What they didn't notice was that, up above from the floor above them, three red eyes glowed, staring at them from the hole that had opened up from the cave-in earlier. Condor and two shadow hounds had been watching the entire thing from the safety of darkness.

Condor scratched one of the dogs next to him behind the ear while a transmission buzzed with a static whirl.

"Condor reporting. I've confirmed suspicions that the targets do carry artifacts of a magical nature. I've pinpointed Dugal's to be located somewhere near his right arm, most likely a part of his prosthetic. The Engst boy is also in possession of an artifact, one that was discovered in this temple. It has the appearance of a red gem." The former Talon agent paused briefly. Then, he added, "They have left the premises. Now is the chance to intercept them."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was noon the next day when Kestrel wandered over to the living room where Hawk and Dark had been momentarily killing time watching soccer. Hawk glanced over before going back to watch the game, while Dark reached for the popcorn with mild surprise at Kestrel. "Hey, you're alive!"

Kestrel plopped on the sofa with his computer with him, sitting between Dark and Hawk and shutting off the T.V. Without a word, he motioned the other two to take a look at the screen. Dark noted the gaunt appearance behind Kestrel's shades. "You _are_ alive, right? Post-caffeine crash?"

"No, I'm used to that," Kestrel muttered. He glowered at something invisible flittering by his face, and swatted it with a free hand. "I just have a headache from trying to understand your demon companion here…" the Talon techie's left eye was still a fiery red, indicating he was sharing vision with Bates. He brought up a few word documents with notes typed up, as well as some windows with an intimidating amount of moving, illegible symbols. "Anyways, it took the whole night but with Bates' help we managed to dredge up some things from this."

"Here, prop this up so we're all participating," Hawk passed one of the silver decorative plates that Dark had used earlier to threaten Bates with. Dark held it up in front of him so that they could all see the blurry reflection of Bates who was currently hanging out on top of Kestrel's head. The little sentry obediently kept his gaze on the computer screen so he could help the man see the spells embedded within the code.

"This whole thing," Kestrel waved his hand at the moving symbols in one of the terminal windows, "was an ingenious marriage of magic and technology. Bates had actually done most of the work defragmenting what he calls magical indexes to trace source codes. Based on the amount of work we had to put to retrieve some of the hidden information, Bates says that the person we're dealing with has an incredibly extensive knowledge of sorcery, and I'll add that he's pretty capable with coding as well. I'd say that the only reason why we were able to get at some of the code was because our man was careless – I don't think he anticipated anyone else would be able to unravel the spell blocks."

"So? Who is this sorcerer guy?" Dark asked the question they all wanted to know.

Kestrel shook his head, and slowly took off his sunglasses from his face. His forehead was knitted together in concentration as his eyes moved down the screen. "I'm really not sure yet, and I still haven't been able to find any information about where he might be, but I think we're getting there."

"Sharing work before you're completely done? That's quite unlike you, Kestrel," Hawk interjected.

"That's because, after about the fifth time encountering the same, weird information, I thought I should stop and ask you two if you knew anything about it before I kept going. I know you guys can't read the original page because you can't see it without Bates' help, so I copied down the text in a word file." He brought the word document up to the front of the screen so that they could read along while he explained. "It turns out that the spell blocks are kind of like intersections that can take you to some other pathway or storage unit. Imagine doors that either lead to more doors, or treasure chests. The majority of these spell blocks that we unlocked gave us access to information regarding a certain person by the name of Corbin Robespierre. Have… either of you heard of him?"

Dark and Hawk exchanged glances, and they mulled over the name for a few minutes. Dark shrugged, while Hawk shook his head. "Nope."

"No one really has, except for our man here," Kestrel pointed at the screen. "He had pages and pages, links and links, of information about Corbin Robespierre. You can't find him with a normal search – if he existed before, then his records have been wiped out except in these spell blocks. It was like our man here had collected anything and everything available out there about this guy. Either that, or he made up this character. I kind of doubt that though."

"What's so significant about him?"

"It says in one of the notes that Corbin was a lord, according to some obscure history." Kestrel paused. He seemed conflicted about sharing what he had found, as though it were so unbelievable that he needed time to come to terms with it first. "You know, I'm really worried about the implications this has about our government."

Unable to hide his impatience any longer, Dark threw a popcorn across the room in frustration. It wasn't very intimidating, but it got his point across. "Fuck it, just tell us and stop stalling!"

"So apparently," Kestrel sighed, looking down at his hands, "Corbin Robespierre is the one responsible for shaping a sinister little idea with a new spin on divine right." His left eye flashed a deeper shade of red as Bates stirred a little.

"He came up with the idea of Occult Ascendancy."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Vaati was in a foul mood, and although under different circumstances he could have found the lush palm trees and the shimmering tropical ocean to be welcome scenery, he wanted nothing more than to summon a tornado to wreck the whole place. When he'd initiated the warp away from the temple, he had intended to warp somewhere in the Northeasterly area of the United States; home of deciduous and pine trees. For the love of Nayru, why was he seeing _fucking palm trees_?

They were standing in front of a busy road, and there were palm trees planted neatly between one side of the road and the other – a common design in tropical tourist areas. People were bustling in the evening rush-hour, and the night life was just beginning to stir. The majority of the people here all had dark brown skin, common to Pacific Islanders, and many of the obviously-tourist groups consisted of Caucasians or Asians. Everyone seemed just a little more cheerful than the group Vaati had become accustomed to back in Northeastern United States. Beyond the road was a line of towering hotels that overlooked the crystal lagoon. Just behind them was a two-story building with a big black billboard on top with a neon pink outline of a woman sitting in a suggestive pose. It was called Sandy's. Vaati might've found this whole situation a kind of funny if he wasn't wracking his brains on just what could've gone wrong with the teleporting: after all, he had just warped himself to one of the most sensible places to go to if he wanted to go on vacation. A strip club directly behind him, beautiful beaches in front of him, what more did he need for a perfect getaway?

It didn't make his mood any better to know that he was still stuck with Dugal, and that this ordeal was not going to be over as quickly as he had anticipated. The ex-Talon leader was surveying their surroundings with a mix of confusion and disapproval, and although he didn't say a word, the way his shoulders were slightly lifted and the way his chin tilted ever so lightly to the side indicated he was just about to make a biting remark.

"Just so you know, I didn't save your hide because I was feeling particularly generous," Vaati grumbled before Dugal could say anything. "I only did it because I'm not going to leave that artifact of yours behind in some crazy temple. Once we're somewhere quiet I'll just chop your arm off and leave you on a deserted island," he muttered under his breath while eyeing the numerous cars and pedestrians that bustled around them. "And before you ask, no, I don't know where we are," Vaati added with a snap.

Dugal was casually wiping the dust off of his glasses and spoke slowly, not unlike how a lawyer might gradually give questions that led up to an attack. "Weren't you the one who initiated the teleport? And what was that red gem you found, by the way?"

"Of course I was!" Vaati ignored the comment about the Wishing Cap's gem.

"Then why don't you know where this is, Mr. Engst?" Dugal asked in a tone that indicated the second, more pertinent underlying question of "Are you stupid?"

"I don't know what happened, okay? I don't know how we got somewhere with beaches and sunshine instead of suburbs and snow!"

"Hello boys. You look a little lost. Maybe I can help you?"

A smooth, velvety voice caught their attention behind them. It hadn't been very loud, but it had managed to cut through the bustle of the street before them. A tall woman who could have come straight out of a swimsuit catalogue was leaning against the wall of the strip club behind them. It was a little difficult to see what she looked like, because she remained in the shade between two pillars, out of the red splash of the evening sun. Her dark maple colored skin blended in with the shadows, but Vaati could catch the bold blue tribal tattoos near her right shoulder and left leg. What she wore was very minimal – it was something that a woman would wear only for the purpose of attracting all the wrong kinds of attention. He wasn't sure whether walking around in nothing but a two-piece neon orange swim suit was the norm… well okay to be fair she was wearing a long navy rider's hood (which suspiciously looked like a sorcerer's hood of old) and a long trailing around her hips that covered _some_ parts but…

Okay but dang. Yeah. Wrong kinds of attention.

"No, that's all right," Dugal managed first.

"I can show you a good time, if you're not from around here," the woman trailed her fingers across the pole very deliberately. She tilted her chin, giving them a seductive gaze with her dark brown eyes. "A nice time with just the three of us, and a good friend of mine."

"Uh…"

Vaati perked up, and a devilish edge crept into his smile. He'd made a decision: he was not going to worry about stupid temples and failing magic for a change. He deserved it. Fuck it. "Considering the streak of bad luck I've been having, I think a good time is something I can do with."

The woman nodded encouragingly. "My friend is very good at reading fortunes. Maybe you'll be…" she paused suggestively, "very lucky this evening?"

Dugal stepped forward, keeping his full focus on Vaati and ignoring the stranger. "Mr. Engst I don't – "

"Look, you don't _have_ to follow me, alright?" the sorcerer snapped. He'd found a much better companion and he wasn't going to be interrupted.

"Yes, but we still haven't resolved the issue of – "

"I'm going to go where I want, when I want. That's all I'm going to say," he snarled. Then, he turned to the woman pleasantly. "All right, miss, I would gladly take your kind offer."

The woman appeared surprised, and then smirked beneath her hood. "'Miss,' huh? You're a polite one, aren't you?"

"You shouldn't judge anyone by the way they look, right?"

A curious expression came over the woman and she hesitated. Then, she laughed. "Oh yes. I know all too well what you mean. I deal with it all the time. All the time…"

XXXXXXXXX

Vaati's streak of bad luck did not seem to be ending. He figured he should have thought _something_ was off when the woman hadn't led him to the club, but had instead took him further down the alley and through a little door down a few stairs in the building next to the club.

The next bad sign was after the door had shut behind them. Dugal had ended up coming along as well with an emotionless expression of acceptance. It was a pretty impressive poker face, to be honest. And although, yes, having the Talon leader follow was also bad news, it wasn't as bad a news as when they were welcomed by the hysterical cackling of a male's voice.

Turned out the woman's friend was not the sexy female friend Vaati had imagined, but a man.

And a crazy one at that.

"Ahhh haHA! Welcome, welcome, please relax!"

Vaati just stared blankly at what was in front of him. He didn't smile, nor did he frown. He wasn't really sure if it was worth getting all angry over what he was seeing.

Behind an incredibly cluttered room of various filing cabinets, collector globes, statuettes of various creatures, unidentifiable mechanical gadgets, screws, scrap metal, and other junk, was a flat table with a single desk lamp. Behind that, was a wiry person whose face was completely covered with a colorful toucan mask. Like the woman, his head was covered by a long rider's hood of a pale purple. His outfit was equally ridiculous: a dark blue suit with a high collar, flamboyant ruffles and a long coattail. "What…" Vaati finally managed.

"Mr. Engst… this is exactly why…" behind him, Dugal pinched the bridge of his noise and looked like he was having a headache.

The toucan man hopped out of his seat and waved his thin arms with big, wide motions. "Take a seat! Take a seat! Thyme, dear, can you pull up those filing cabinets so we all have room to sit?" he waved the woman, Thyme, towards some of the filing cabinets strewn around the room. He nodded earnestly towards the speechless Vaati and Dugal, not really noticing that he was making them uncomfortable. He pushed some seat cushions in their faces forcefully. "Here, gentlemen, if you can just put these seat cushions on those filing cabinets then we've got ourselves more seats."

Vaati hit the cushion away from his face. "I'm leaving." With a frown, he turned to the tired-looking Talon leader. "Dugal, I made a mistake."

"Exactly." Dugal agreed with a frown.

The masked man turned sharply to Thyme. "Thyme, dear, did you misinform these gentlemen?"

The woman huffed. "No of course not. Everything I said was true."

"That's not true!" Vaati interjected, though it came out somewhat weak as he tried to go over their dialogue earlier.

"Ha! It's not my fault your dirty mind misinterpreted everything I said," she replied cooly, "I never once lied."

"Ahhh, it's no good to lie, Thyme dear," the quirky man's shoulders sagged disappointedly. "That's not how you make friends."

"Thistle just - ! You are the absolute _worst_ when it comes to lying!"

As Dugal shook his head and turned around to open the door, the man with the mask suddenly hugged a seat cushion close to his chest exaggeratedly. "Leaving already? No no no, please, I insist you stay! I'm so lonely! I'll buy you dinner tomorrow. The all you can eat seafood special at the Westin is delicious, please."

"Thistle," Thyme rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest, "they think you're pathetic."

Thistle worriedly patted his mask with his black gloved hands. "Is it the mask? It's the mask, isn't it. People always complain about the mask." He gave an earnest glance towards the sorcerer who was about to leave too. "It's okay, you don't have to hide it."

"Yeah, it's the mask," Vaati snapped irritably.

"Gosh, no need to be so blunt about it!" Thistle cried huffily. Then, he heaved his shoulders dramatically. "Ahh Thyme, they're really leaving. And here I thought we could have a nice long chat together." Thistle twirled a long grey braid by his ear absentmindedly, giving them a nice long stare. "I know who you are, by the way," he continued to speak to two uninterested visitors, "you're the two Magicians from one of my old fortunes."

"Well that's nice." The sorcerer stepped outside, the door swinging slowly shut.

"And here I thought you might want to know a little bit about that curse, hmmm? And maybe some amnesty from the ones chasing you?"

There was a brief pause and the door clicked shut. Thistle walked over and carefully placed the seat cushions that had fallen on the floor onto two filing cabinets. Once they were neatly in place, he looked at his watch and counted the seconds.

At ten seconds, the door swung back open with both Vaati and Dugal hurrying back. "What did you just say?" they both demanded in unison.

Thistle giggled, and then indicated the improvised seats once again. "Kehaha! There's a curse about you, Sorcerer Vaati. You want to break free from it, don't you?" Thistle let the question linger. He flicked a tarot card into the air and caught it before it disappeared again somewhere in his sleeves.

Vaati's red eyes narrowed, then. Tension crept along the surface of his skin as he heightened his guard. "How do you know my name?" he whispered. _And how do you know about the curse?_

It was impossible to tell what kind of expression was behind that mask, but Thistle somehow managed to appear smug. He walked back around the desk, stepping over all of the cluttered junk, and sat back down. "Kehaha… how indeed? Don't judge anyone by the way they look, Vaati. Now please, I repeat myself," he gestured them to come closer. "Will you sit down?"

* * *

fleets: The Wishing Cap returns! Kind of. Are you guys starting to see where I'm trying to take this story? hehehe ;)  
Also a new name is introduced! Corbin Robespierre. I've had to keep my mouth shut about him for so long, I can finally mention his name at least omg. More about him in upcoming chapters. ALSO Thistle and Thyme! Finally got to write Thyme, so I was pretty excited about that (Thistle doesn't count cause he appeared a whole lot in Rend).

**Mirria1: **Whoohoo! You're not dead! :D (shot)

**Sapphiet: **Why oh why are they obsessed with magic indeed? :P

**kid koopa: **HAI! And here is more :D

**Sybdoodles: **Hurray! Welcome back! I was pretty excited about coming back here too. Didn't realize I missed it so much until I began to write for this again :)

**ThE AnCiEnT DeRuViSh: **I really need to play Assassins Creed sometime... everyone's been telling me about how awesome it is T_T

**Iris Martinez: **Haha you can give them any pokemon you like! Dugal with Honchcrow is perfect, and Vaati would probably want nothing less than a legendary haha. I was actually thinking something like Absol for Dark, but since Charmander was my favorite starter I've no complaints with that one either :)  
We haven't really gotten into Thistle and Thyme yet, but I'd say Thyme would have Xatu or Venomoth and Thistle might be Duskull. And haha not at all! It's a fun excercise :3


	14. Occult Ascendancy

****fleets: I would just like to give a huge shoutout to my outline, because without it I could not have written the craziness that follows in this chapter as well as the upcoming ones. Outline I wrote 2+ years ago... I love you. Marry me.

* * *

**Chapter 14: Occult Ascendancy**

A heavy quiet had settled down in the apartment in Cambridge. It was the kind of a quiet that comes with a puzzled sense of mystery, where everyone is waiting for some kind of magical revelation that would suddenly explain everything that was going on. Dark and Hawk looked over Kestrel's shoulders to read his notes as the Asian man told them what he had learned about Corbin Robespierre.

"No one really knows what era Corbin Robespierre lived in, but it's been so long that he's passed into folk stories and legends instead of recorded history. There seems to be an agreement that he's from ancient Avalon, the city of paradise, otherwise known as Hyrule. There are other references that he'd originated from somewhere called Holodrum, but it's such a vague reference that it might as well be fiction."

"According to these stories, Corbin was a Lord of sorts; at least someone of an elite standing. He was extremely wealthy, well educated, and someone who would have ranked quite high in the social sphere by birthright alone. It seemed like he was one of those people who could have everything he'd wanted, but there was one thing he couldn't stand. It was divine right. He was Lord, but he could never rule because the royalty were ones with divine blood."

Kestrel paused, then, with a small frown on his lips. He scratched his head and waved a hand at the screen. "This is where supposed 'history' begins to sound more like fantasy and lore. But I'll humor this a little since we're having our own encounters with sorcery as well," he glanced up at Bates sitting on his head, while the little sentry gave a tiny shrug. Kestrel continued.

"He foolishly proposed a new system where those capable of sorcery would also be able to rule. Believing he was gifted with magic, he thought he would be able to rise above lordship and overthrow Hyrule royalty. Unfortunately for him, he had been delusional, and he was not one of the ones gifted in magic although he adamantly believed he could commune with the arcane. He pressed onwards with the idea of Occult Ascendancy. It was the idea that magic would rule all, and anyone, even commoners with the gift, could rise to kingship. It was their goddess-given _right_ to do so."

"By this point, even though Corbin himself had yet to demonstrate magic, the young Lord had been able to gather quite a few followers with his incredible charisma. He was a great public speaker and could rally crowds to fervor with his voice. It was right when Occult Ascendancy was on the verge of overturning the entire monarchy when a group of dissenters had attempted to overthrow Corbin from leadership. They'd found out that he wasn't blessed with the arcane, and so they had made a move to remove him. Corbin fled out of the country, but stubbornly believing he was still capable of sorcery, he didn't run far. He remained within the borders of Hyrule, biding his time."

"The text becomes extremely vague at this point. There are mentions of how the Occult Ascendancy movement gradually faded away, losing its cohesion once the leading voice of Corbin had disappeared. There are other tales of how another, more sinister group had briefly emerged; a secretive cult that only went by the name The Guild. Next to nothing is known about this cult, except that there were rumors of summoning demons and trading souls. Kind of similar to the Faust stories of trading souls with the Devil for incredible knowledge and worldly pleasures. The Guild was supposedly a powerful group of sorcerers, though some texts describe them as so insane that they had lost whatever humanity had been left of them. Others conjecture that they may have been under the influence of hallucinogens. Here, Corbin Robespierre is mentioned once again, and there are suggestions that he'd also joined The Guild. It is unclear what had happened to him at this point, because it appears as though he had gained the ability to control fire where before he clearly had no such ability. This little fact could just have been a rumor that Corbin's few loyal followers had spread to help save his reputation, I don't know."

"And that's basically all I have of him. It's as though once he'd joined The Guild, Corbin Robespierre gradually disappeared into obscurity."

Hawk, Kestrel, Dark, and Bates stared at the softly glowing computer screen with the story of the mysterious Corbin Robespierre. They were all quietly absorbing what they had just read. Dark didn't really understand why the codes they had followed linked them to the story of Corbin, someone who was from the past so far back in history that he might as well have been a legend.

He… did know of another person who was from an era of legend.

If Vaati, someone who had been alive back in the era of Hyrule as was mentioned again here, who was he to say that Corbin Robespierre was also a legend? No, he was sure of it. Corbin Robespierre really had existed, and there probably had been a cult and maybe even demons. He might not have believed any of it two years ago, but after the Avilux incident he could believe anything. The question now was, who was the person who had written the encryptions and why did Corbin Robespierre have any relevance?

"What does some crazed lord have anything to do with this?" Dark asked.

Kestrel gave a small laugh. "Ha. I thought you could tell me."

"No. Although, Vaati might know something. Actually," Dark looked up as something occurred to him, "I wonder if that could be part of the reason why the government wants him? This guy who you've managed to track is interested in Corbin Robespierre, and he also has some connection with the government. If there's anyone out there who knows anything about Corbin Robespierre, it would be Vaati." Dark's expression turned serious. "We have to find him. I have a bad feeling about this."

XXXXXXXXXXX

"The government wants you too, eh?" the man with the bird mask snickered lightly while his partner regarded them from the corner of the messy room with a catlike gaze. Vaati sat propped on the makeshift file-cabinet seat, while Dugal leaned against a bookcase next to him with his arms crossed over his chest in reserved caution. "Oh I am so sorry; in my excitement I completely forgot introductions. My name is Thistle," the light green eyes glittered from behind the mask. Thistle's beak swung over to the sultry dark skinned woman, "and that is my wonderful assistant, Thyme. We run a little fortune telling shop, and she helps bring customers around. Although, it seems her methods were a little deceptive?" At this, Thyme rolled her eyes wordlessly.

"Let's see, you're situated right next to a strip club and you go up to people suggestively. I bet all of your customers didn't exactly want their fortunes told…" Vaati muttered flatly.

"So you make a living giving fortunes?" Dugal interrupted from his corner. There was still a suspicious edge in his voice. "I can't imagine you would make enough to get by with only fortune telling."

Vaati noticed Thyme smirk a little before turning her head away. His attention turned to Thistle, then, who chuckled. "Kehaha, well no. I suppose it's more of a side job. It's a fairly entertaining one as well! You get to meet all sorts, and you can dress however you'd like." Thistle absentmindedly twisted the thin gray braid that hung past his left ear while he stared at a worn poster of the world map. There was an expectant pause while Vaati and Dugal waited for an explanation about the man's real job. Thistle gave a short glance, and then went back to staring at the map. "At any rate, the government is annoying, don't you think?" He asked, changing the topic and giving no indication of telling them more about himself.

Dugal's eyes narrowed behind his glasses, and his fingers twitched towards his gun but he kept his patience. Instead he took Thistle's bait. "What do you know about them?"

"Oh, I know plenty about how nosey they are, and how they ruin everyone's fun with their policies and laws. I'm quite a fan of anarchy myself," Thistle nodded earnestly. Then, he burst out laughing about something he had said, while everyone remained not very amused. "Kehahaha! I'm only kidding of course. I love the government."

Behind him, Thyme was shaking her head tiredly. "You're really impossible…"

"It's true, I love the government! They can be the perfect comedy to an otherwise dull life. Just as funny as an ex-wife. Did you know they were after me, too?"

Vaati leaned back from the bird-beaked mask that had suddenly swung towards him, nearly smacking him across the face. "The government or the ex-wife?"

"The government of course. My ex-wife is imaginary."

_Hellooo crazy, _Vaati thought momentarily. However, he was startled by the brief look of cunning clarity in those eyes behind the mask. Vaati's guard shot up to overdrive and his left hand clutched the red gem of the Wishing Cap tightly in his pocket. He'd almost been fooled by the man's silly charade, and a critical thought had nearly slipped his mind. _Why was the government after the toucan, too?_

Thistle straightened up, and it seemed the mask was hiding a knowing grin. Fully anticipating Vaati's question, Thistle continued. "I'll tell you why. They're after everyone who is connected to Magic. You know, like you, me, Harry Potter… kehaha but mostly you and me."

The fortune teller, who had been prowling back and forth between the various cluttered objects around the room, had finally made it back behind his desk. He'd stopped pacing, and had his head cocked towards the two visitors with a bit more gravity than before. "The art of sorcery, though practically extinct, isn't completely obsolete, as you are no doubt beginning to realize. Congress wants to monopolize it, and that's why they are after people like you. People like me." Thistle picked up a small, mechanical silver sphere that was on the desk and carelessly spun it on the surface. "I'm not even that good with magic," he spoke more to himself. As he spun the sphere, a tiny red light blinked from the center. "Still, a monopoly is a monopoly. At any rate, I figured out how to know everything they know, inside out. Any correspondence they make, any note they save on a computer server, I have access to with a neat little trick. Information is extremely powerful. Mr. Dugal, you probably know a lot about that yourself?"

Dugal shifted his weight to acknowledge he'd been addressed, but remained guarded and silent.

"The government knows quite a bit about you, did you know? And because they do, so do I. Sounds like a traitor ratted you out? Kehaha, you should pick your friends more wisely next time." Thistle prattled on, letting the small metal ball bounce in his palm. He gave it a cursory glance, and then tossed it over to Thyme who caught it. She gave an annoyed sigh and got up to put it away. Vaati also noticed her flip on a light switch next to the door on the other side of the room, but nothing turned on. It was a trivial detail and he soon forgot about it when Thistle turned back to him. "And you, Vaati. I'll tell you what I know about it but I can't just go around giving away information about magic for free, you know? Take my offer and I'll tell you what you want to know: the reason why we persuaded you to come here is because we'd like to team up with you. And by team up, I mean keep you under our watch so you don't mess up and hand yourselves over to the government. Thyme and I agree that you've caused enough of a ruckus out there already and it's time someone babysat you."

Thyme looked over her shoulder with her hands on her hips. "Contrary to what Thistle thinks, I actually don't agree because his idea sounds a lot like keeping you two under house arrest."

"Thyme, you are not helping."

During the past few minutes of conversation, Dugal's gaze had been locked on the silver sphere that Thistle had been playing with earlier. Thyme had put it back on a shelf in the back corner of the room with other similar metal spheres. Although Thistle and Thyme appeared relatively harmless at first glance in their goofy outfits, something about them kept him on edge. And the whole issue with Vaati's teleport sending them conveniently in front of the two fortune tellers' doorstep was yet to be explained and highly suspicious. Maybe magic was able to influence things from extremely far away, he wouldn't know, but it sounded too convenient for his liking.

But… that wasn't the thing that finally convinced him to grab Vaati by the wrist and pull him quickly towards the door. He'd been trying to figure out why the spheres Thistle had seemed so familiar.

They had an uncannily similar design to the metallic enhancements he'd seen on Condor and the shadow hounds.

They should never have gone back to the fortune telling shop.

"We are leaving _now_ Mr. Engst."

"But…" Vaati hesitated, his urge to know the secret of escaping his curse stopping him. However, he saw urgency in Dugal's face that he'd rarely ever seen and he suddenly got a creepy feeling about the way Thistle was grinning at them. Okay, so he couldn't actually tell that Thistle was grinning because of that silly toucan mask, but somehow he just knew there was a grin behind it. He shook Dugal's hand off of his wrist and he followed him quickly toward their exit. "Right."

"Kehaha, it is far too late, gentlemen," Thistle's voice cut through the air like a whip as soon as Dugal's hand was on the doorknob. Then, he added in a much more lighthearted tone, "Can't we just all agree that my place is nice and comfortable, and that you'd rather be here with me and Thyme than outside with the horrible government chasing you forever and ever?"

Dugal swung the door open and stepped outside with Vaati following closely behind him. As soon as the door shut with a soft click, an unexpected thing occurred. The evening scenery of the island melted away to darkness, disorienting both of them with a dizzying effect. Then, a new surrounding materialized, and to their horror it was an unwelcomingly familiar site.

It was the exact same room they had just left, except this time, Thistle and Thyme were nowhere to be found.

"You have got to be kidding me… they know how to cast Labyrinth spells?" Vaati hissed, his eyes darting towards the four doors, one on each face of the four walls of the rectangular room. "They have us completely trapped." He recalled how the woman Thyme had flipped on a seemingly malfunctioning light switch earlier, and he suspected that had been the trigger to snare them within the spell.

"Is this an illusion?" Dugal whispered, in utter shock. His expression hardened, and before Vaati could stop him, he had whirled around and opened the door from which they had come from.

"Wait Dugal!" Vaati cried, but by the time he had noticed it had been too late. Dugal had disappeared through the black curtain that obscured the view on the other side of the door. "Damn it all," Vaati clenched his fists, and kicked a pile of books that were on the floor next to him. Of course someone unfamiliar with magic wouldn't know that once you were locked in its trap, the concept off "going back" no longer existed. The only way they could leave was to go through the correct order of doors, North, South, East, or West, and usually the only one to know the order was the one who had created the trap.

The sorcerer stood in place for a few seconds with a troubled expression, and his fingers rubbed the smooth surface of the red gem that was still tucked away in his pocket. It was slightly comforting that he was reunited with it again, but at the same time the gem alone wasn't going to solve all of his problems right now. Perhaps if he'd had the completed hat… but there was no use wishing when there was no hat to grant his wishes. Shaking his head and at a loss on what to do, Vaati decided to follow Dugal back through the door behind him.

Just as he had expected, he found himself in an identical room. No one was there, and he was completely alone. Although a part of him rejoiced that he was separated from Dugal, he knew that he needed to find the former Talon leader, especially since he wasn't about to leave the man behind without stealing that mysterious artifact of his.

Frustrated, Vaati broke into a run and began to slam through doors randomly. Each time, he came upon the same exact room and each time his mind told him it was all futile, but he pried the doors open anyway. At least he felt like he was making progress. Maybe if he did it enough times he'd get lucky and come across the right combination.

"Aaaaugh I hate this!" He yelled after his seventeenth door. He was really beginning to hate all of the wooden figurines and various antiques that obstructed his path. Just as he was about to open the eighteenth door, a soft laugh stopped him short. It came from somewhere by the corner of the room, near one of the makeshift filing cabinet seats that Thistle had prepared earlier. As Vaati slowly narrowed his eyes towards the laugh, Thyme uncrossed her legs and leaned forward with a smug smile. In one of her hands she held a long, blue wooden staff. It was hooked on one end, cradling a dark pink crystal cut into a diamond.

"I told you," she accused playfully from her perch on the filing cabinet, "that Thistle was the worst with lies." She brushed a stray hair off the side of her face casually. "I, on the other hand, am generally truthful. I'll point you to the right door, and you'll see that I didn't trick you when you find yourself closer to the exit. Do you want to take your chances?" The few strings of glass beads hanging from Thyme's staff tinkled as she pointed it towards the door on the left. "Go through there, and then take the next door straight ahead."

With a scowl on his face, the sorcerer immediately made for the door the woman directed him to. Although he still had a lot of things he wanted to talk about with Thistle's assistant, he didn't want to waste his time getting her to cooperate. As soon as he stepped through the second door, he stopped short in his tracks. Thyme hadn't exactly lied, but she hadn't been completely truthful either. He was back again in the same room, but this time, Thistle and Dugal were there. Dugal was on the ground, disarmed and subdued, and cornered against the wall. Meanwhile, Thistle was in the process of tossing Dugal's pistol over his shoulder and into the trash bin. "Oh, hello Vaati! Did you want to join our anger management class too?"

Vaati immediately reacted, charging up an energy sphere to throw at the masked man. He'd gone against Dugal before during the Avilux crisis and it hadn't exactly been a walk in the fucking daisy park to deal with him. Just as he was about to swing his arms forward to shoot the bird mask right off of Thistle's face, powerful claws, cold and clammy to the touch, held them down and pulled him towards the floor. The sorcerer struggled against his captor, but whoever held him knew a few tricks on locking his joints. He winced when his fingers were wrenched behind his back, and he felt some kind of metal restraints lock around his fingers. Vaati's skin turned a shade paler when he realized just how unprepared he was to go against modern world: the restraints kept his fingers twisted in such a way that it was impossible for him to cast any spells. They fit so perfectly… it was almost as though the restraints had been made specifically for sorcerers.

"Kehahahaha," Thistle chuckled lightly as he looked down at them both. He fixed a few wrinkles that had found their way in his coat, and a dark shadow crept up next to him. To Vaati and Dugal's horror, the shadow rose up from the ground and materialized into the form of a mechanical Cyclops in a suit.

It was Condor.

"Kehaha!" Thistle continued to laugh as he saw shock bloom on their faces. "It wouldn't have been this difficult if you'd simply agreed to stay," he chuckled. "You gave me no choice but to make this unpleasant for you. Actually," Thistle paused, tapping the side of his mask thoughtfully, "I would have made it unpleasant for you anyway. It was only a matter of _when_ things would get ugly for you. From the moment this started I held your Fate in my hands," he flipped two tarot cards up out of his sleeve. One was right side up, and the other was upside down, and both had the inscription, "The Magician." "And unfortunately for you, my fortunes are extremely accurate."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I've been contemplating about The Guild that had been divulged from the spell block."

Dark raised an eyebrow and peered over at Bates who was hovering uncomfortably close to his face. The teenager who had been lying across the sofa shooed the sentry away and sat up groggily. "Yeah, what is it?" he asked half-heartedly. He'd been given the job to hang onto the small stone that allowed communication with Bates, while Kestrel took some time to rest. Apparently the Talon techie had been reluctant to deal with another hour of Bates' difficult-to-understand speech mannerisms, and had passed the pain back to Dark.

Bates, however, didn't seem to care much about his lack of popularity. "Well it's just that The Guild is singularly agnate to The Guild for Wizzrobes. I wonder if they are not interchangeable."

"Well, why didn't you let Kestrel know that earlier?" Dark mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

"Because they will not believe me the same way you will," the sentry replied, somewhat bashfully. Then, he fluttered up and landed on Dark's shoulder, huddling his wings close together and turning his gaze away as though he wanted Dark to forget he'd ever implied he preferred him more than the Talon men. "At any rate, Wizzrobes were creatures of the old days. They were all once normal fools who, for whatever reason, decided to make a contract with a demon; their body as the demon's vessel in exchange for incredible magical power. What they never accounted for was that once the demon was allowed to dwell in their bodies, they would completely lose control. Essentially, the demon's real aim was to be able to remain in this realm not as an incorporeal shadow, but as a creature with a tangible body. The victims in these contracts usually believed they could sustain supremacy over the demon, and hoped that they could master sorcery even if it wasn't in their blood to do so."

Bates stretched his wings as though to shrug. "I am unsure how this amalgamates with what we know so far, but I assert that Corbin Robespierre may have been a Wizzrobe."

Dark blinked. Then, he shrugged with Bates. "Yeah I don't know. I'm not sure if knowing that helps us figure out what we're dealing with." Dark stood up from the couch and walked over to the kitchen to find something to eat. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Bates looking disappointed that he hadn't been able to help. Dark sighed. "Hey, well, thanks for telling me, okay? If you come up with anything else you have to let us know, even if you think we won't believe you."

Bates gave him a good long stare before he huffily turned his back and settled down by the window, folding his wings around himself. "Hmph! I do not care for your wretched appreciation," he growled.

Dark tried to hold in his laugh. Bates was just like Vaati sometimes.

And speaking of Vaati, Dark wondered just what that troublemaker was up to…

* * *

fleets: I hope you guys are keeping up and connecting the dots! Oh and like Thyme says, Thistle is a liar usually. Well, okay, so some of the stuff he says is true but most of it is distorted by lies. Trust Thyme, she's honest in words.  
You know, I had a lot to say about this chapter but I forgot it all. The story is named after this part, I guess?

**SubZeroChimera: **I was not lying when I said OA is his story XD

**Lord Siravant:** And it's such a happy reunion! (shot and blasted and torched)

**Reily96:** And THAT is what I get for not caring about correct word usage when I go crazy with the thesaurus for writing Bates' dialogue. Apparently it means 'nonbeliever,' according to my thesaurus, but it did not go on to say the context WHICH WE LEARN IS IMPORTANT. Anyways I fixed it. Thank you.

**imnotraven:** Thank you! :D

**Mirria1:** Annnnd here you go! :)

**DarkSakura: **Good, thank you! I'm still trying to figure out my writing schedule and work schedule and life schedule. Haha don't worry, he doesn't have the hat back, just the gem. Not that, you know, that's any better...

**Sybdoodles: **Well it was certainly one of my favorites to write! This one was fun too, but mostly because I'm starting to give more things away. D'awww, thank you. I love my reviewers too (hugs everyone)

**Guest: **That comment almost made me snort my tea all over my computer. XD

**Sapphiet: **Thistle knows what to say... because Thistle knows everything XD


	15. The Wild Card

fleets: Defcon really exists. It's one of the coolest conventions in existence, and they used to run it in Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas before they went bankrupt, so now the venue is at Rio Hotel. Btw this is one of my longer chapters, so prepare yourselves!

* * *

**Chapter 15: The Wild Card**

Kestrel gave a heavy sigh as the soft glow of Maple, his trusty computer, lit up his face. It was night again, and everyone else except Bates had fallen asleep. He worked best at night, so it didn't bother him too much when he was tapping away on his keyboard long past midnight. Although the work he was doing now was no less difficult than some of the other jobs he'd had to do in the past, it had a new element of having to work together with Bates: it involved lots of trial and error, and was kind of like having to learn a new computer language.

What was the hardest part for him right now was that he didn't really know what he was looking for. What kind of information was he looking for? Everything? What kind of code could he untangle from the seemingly random insertions of magic? It wasn't like one of those jobs where he'd be given a specific task to, say, introduce a Trojan on a certain target's computer to spy their screens or log keystrokes. The only lead he had at the moment was to chase after the mysterious individual with knowledge of the arcane in the hopes that they might know something about the whereabouts of the Engst boy and Dugal.

And honestly, that was on the assumption that this mystery man even knew where Vaati and Dugal were. That was their main objective, with the other being to take Condor down. The objective _was not_ to go running after some elusive magic hacker who may or may not have anything to do with Vaati, Dugal, or Condor. They couldn't lose sight of their main objective…

Haha… magic in computers huh? Kestrel sighed, plopping his head back against the backrest of the sofa. Just what had he gotten himself into? This had all started as fun and games for him, really, and now he was stuck in this bizarre world of secret organizations and sorcery and… well, sometimes even murder, he supposed. It came with the job, is what he always told himself whenever Talon Whatever had encountered a situation where Dugal needed him or Hawk to silence someone that Condor or Harrier couldn't do it, but killing someone for business hadn't been on the list of things he'd wanted to do as a hacker. All he'd wanted to do was to beat the system, any system, and revel in the fact that he could have access to all the information in the world with a few keystrokes.

Kestrel leaned back against the sofa, staring at the ceiling and reminiscing about the day he had first been contacted to work for Talon Four, as it had been called back then. He'd been at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in the city of sin, Las Vegas, attending the biggest hacker convention in the nation. He was still an undergraduate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology studying computer science, and it had been his fourth summer appearance at Defcon. He remembered stepping inside the hotel, escaping the scorching, early summer heat of August, and into the cool breeze of the air conditioned hotel lobby.

He'd stepped over the lighted words "Defcon" as he walked towards the reception desk to sign in with the handle meRlin. He wasn't completely out of place with sunglasses indoors, as several other attendees wore them as well – perhaps as a precaution against any nosey press who might take pictures of them. As soon as he'd received his badge and the first convention riddle to solve from the pamphlets and paraphernalia, a man about his age had approached him with a friendly greeting. The man had the most innocent face meRlin had ever seen, practically angelic, and he appeared to have already made fast friends with a good number of the convention attendees from the way others waved to him amiably as he passed by.

"Hello there, I take it this isn't your first time here?" the man, smiled as he walked over with a slightly dorky gait that matched the typical convention wear of a geeky t-shirt and shorts.

meRlin's eyes wandered over to the man's nametag. It read "Scout." "How did you know? And you're not a fed by any chance?" he joked. Although it was a hacker convention, the feds were invited yearly to promote white hat hacker activities and recruit for security jobs. In fact, many of the hackers here were dismayed by the stereotype of malicious, black hat hackers who ruined the reputation of many hackers simply wanted to help security systems find weaknesses they could fix.

Scout laughed. "Haha, naw, I'm no fed. Although, I do happen to be scouting for a job opening, hence my name. Oh, it's just the way you carry yourself that gave you away. Little nuances, like the width of your step and how you hold your shoulders. It's my first time, so I'm trying to hear some opinions and tips from old-timers."

"Tips huh?" meRlin peered over his sunglasses with a smirk. "Are you scouting for team members for the Capture the Flag competition later, by any chance? Because I'm already on a team."

Scout shuffled his feet, scratching his head somewhat embarrassedly. "Oh, no, I'm not recruiting for that! I was just interested in tips for hacking because I don't know anything about it, really, besides what you see in movies."

At this, meRlin scoffed. "Pff, the movies always exaggerate things." He made a move to go elsewhere. He'd come to the convention to meet other hackers, not give a lesson to novices. There was a stage set up in the large convention hall, and many people had gathered in front of it. Four people were lined up behind an MC and they made an announcement that they were going to start a round of "Spot the Fed." "Anyways, it was nice meeting you. Hope you have fun."

"Thanks! I might not do any hacking today, but I'm going to try a shot at the lock picking contest." Scout grinned. "Good luck with your competitions as well!" the man turned to go ahead and greet a different convention attendant, but before he left he gave one brief look-back. "And by the way, the fed is the woman second from the left."

And that had basically been Kestrel's first encounter with Hawk. He'd learned later that the dorky gait and the socially awkward air had been part of a brilliant acting routine, but back then he hadn't known. They'd run into each other again later, and this although Kestrel hadn't been too impressed with the other man earlier, he'd learned that the blond had won third place at the lock picking contest. He himself had won first place in both the 'Crack me if you Can' contest (although technically he had been disqualified when he didn't want to reveal his tricks) and the social engineering 'Capture the Flag' contest where contestants were required to collect data points, or flags, from corporate giants in front of a live audience. Hawk had somehow managed to find him in the crowd, just before the famous team "Capture the Flag" contest began, and this time with a huge grin on his face.

"Congratulations on your two wins! I saw you tackle the social engineering challenge: absolutely fantastic! Not many people can get all of the flags in that game, I hear. The way you interrogated the store manager from Kmart to get them to spill everything about the computer systems and security software – I would call you more of an investigator than a hacker."

meRlin looked up from where he was setting up for his next challenge in his team-based challenge. "Oh, thanks. You didn't do half-bad yourself with the lock picking."

"Ah, yeah, the government issued electronic access locks slowed me down… they really made it challenging this year." 'Scout' flipped a business card towards 'meRlin,' who caught it and squinted to read it. "I'm sure you'll receive a lot more of these with great offers considering your performance today, but I'll tell you what: my boss wants you so badly that we're willing to top any offer that you might receive. If you're interested, I'll meet you for lunch tomorrow at Picasso, Bellagio's outdoor dining. Don't worry, we'll pay for that too."

Although meRlin's head raced from the possibilities of the proposition, he managed to keep his cool. "One thing I learned is that if someone's offering a shitton of money, there's always a catch and it involves the illegal."

Scout raised his hands defensively. "Hey, all we're offering is unlimited freedom to test the limits of technology. The only limit is your moral boundaries," Scout took a step closer and casually took meRlin aside, speaking in a low voice, "and I didn't peg you as someone with strict moral limits after your stunt at the social engineering contest. Where some contestants dropped out from feeling guilty, you were actually having fun." Then, Scout gave a friendly, disarming smile and tapped meRlin on the shoulder encouragingly. "Anyway, if you're already leaning towards 'not interested,' let me know before the convention ends so I can find someone else will work better. If you are, just meet me at Picasso, six o'clock tomorrow. Ask for a reservation by 'McPherson.' Good luck!"

And with that, Scout had disappeared back into the crowd with his innocent smile. And later in the week, meRlin, renamed Kestrel, had decided to join the Talon group as its newest and youngest member. In retrospect, he could have done equally well being picked up by government for security related jobs, getting great pay and being able to tackle difficult hacking problems. In fact, he could have gotten those jobs even earlier when he'd ranked high in the competitions at previous Defcons.

So why had he accepted Hawk's, or rather Dugal's, offer? Well… Hawk had been right: he wasn't exactly a white hat hacker, working to fight against the bad hackers of the world. The only way to achieve true, unlimited freedom, was to be the 'bad guy.' He didn't really like to think he was the bad guy though. He was a black hat hacker, and although that automatically gave him a reputation for being a hacker "with malicious intent," he always thought that it wasn't his fault that people made their security too easy for him to mess with. Talon just gave him more opportunities to "test the limits of technology," as Hawk had put it earlier.

Dugal had introduced him to a fascinating account of possible new technology; perhaps something the government kept in secret. He'd told him about the story of a sinister shard, and how the Air Force Academy had kicked him and Hawk out when they had become too bothersome for knowing too much about the incident surrounding it. Their overarching task had been to learn more about it, while taking up jobs from organizations that might have known more about something like the shard. It was information that was sensitive and confidential, and so most of their jobs involved the underground and the black market. Their team gradually earned the reputation for being efficient, as well as completing jobs no one else was willing to do, and eventually their team increased to include a member specialized to 'clean up the mess.' In other words, kill people efficiently as well. With Harrier, Talon Four was complete, and with the help of Hawk they gained the favor of the company Avilux I, who just so happened to be interested in research about objects with properties similar to that dark shard…

Kestrel blinked, his thoughts of the past being interrupted as something slowly dawned on him. With everything going on and his life constantly busy with tasks and chaotic with caffeine, he'd nearly forgotten why Talon had existed in the first place. It had been to spill the dirt from the Air Force, the US military, _the government_… about some mysterious, perhaps magical, shard.

Weren't they dealing with a government problem right now, and with something magic related?

Kestrel suddenly sat up, his eyes wide behind his shades. He'd never considered how the events that had brought Talon together and the events now might actually be connected. Could they actually be related?

"Bates," he snapped, calling the sentry eye to attention. He cracked his knuckles and took a swig of Red Bull even though he felt plenty awake from the excited energy of inspiration. "We're doing a new search. We'll be looking for any magical index that leads to something involving the Air Force Academy."

XXXXXXXXXX

Vaati was at a complete loss of words. Ever since he'd regained his memories for being a sorcerer, he'd automatically assumed, and foolishly so, that he was ahead of everyone because he knew magic and probably no one else did. It was foolish because one, in retrospect he didn't know what he really meant by 'ahead' (what was the race? Who was he racing?) and two, he'd had no grounds for assuming he was the only one with extensive knowledge in magic. Once again he'd worked on assumptions, and assumptions that he was better than everyone else. Clearly assumptions that were not true.

_I'd never made THAT mistake before…_ Vaati thought sarcastically.

To think that the world was the same now as it had been thousands of years ago was a ridiculous conclusion. Of course Vaati had understood the concept, but he realized now just how little it had really sunk in to his head. A part of him was still treating the world of 2012 as full of the same idiots who had been easily taken over with a few demonstrations of his power. That wasn't the case anymore… technology could now connect entire regions of people quickly and efficiently, and therefore the scope and range of whatever opponent he'd have to face was much larger than the standing army of the relatively small region of Hyrule. Modern weapons were insanely effective, and even if his enemies couldn't match him in individual strength, that was quickly negated with special tactics.

Basically, there were vastly more ways to subdue 'the most powerful sorcerer in the world' today than eight thousand years ago. And today, he was rendered powerless with a simple finger-lock that kept him from casting spells.

Vaati turned towards Dugal, wondering if they still had a chance. He wasn't sure what had transpired between Thistle and Dugal before he'd arrived, but Thistle had somehow managed to disarm Dugal. The man wasn't however, restrained like he was.

Maybe this was Thistle's mistake.

Vaati watched hopefully as the ex-Talon leader's head snapped up with a ferocious expression, and his left hand swiftly moved towards the joint of his right arm.

_Dugal's got this. If he can get us out of here with that artifact of his, we'll have the upper hand again,_ Vaati thought with a small grin forming triumphantly.

In a split second, Thistle whipped around, noticing the movement. There was a bright flash and a ghostly scythe instantly appeared in his hands, and without a second of hesitation the man swung the scythe through Dugal in a horrifying instant. The gleaming blade cleanly cut the man in two.

Er… or it would have, except it simply went through him instead, without leaving a single scratch. That wasn't to say that it had accomplished absolutely nothing, however. Dugal's knees shook and the man had a corpse-like expression, the blood leaving his face. Then, he fell to the ground on his hands and knees, gasping for air, while Thistle casually tapped his scythe on the ground to shake away some sand-like substance along the edge of its blade.

"That should have stolen a bit of your life away, but instead this scythe stole something else. Can you see these fine yellow grains that float around my scythe, Vaati? This is what Dugal has been keeping secret from you." Thistle ran his finger along the scythe, letting the yellow sand fall away. The scythe itself appeared to have almost a living quality to it, as blue, snake-like eyes were embedded near the head and stared at Vaati and Dugal with a hungry gaze. It was ghostly transparent, and had sharp fang-like designs lining the actual blade.

Thistle walked over to Dugal and tapped the other man's right arm with his foot. Dugal, still completely pale, barely resisted and continued to shiver as though the temperature had dropped below freezing. "The Phantom Hourglass, I believe. It collects a bit of life force from the environment, and if you happen to kill something, then you can steal quite a bit of life force at once. It's quite an insidious little thing, kehahaha!"

Vaati tensed. That _did_ sound insidious. That pretty much meant that if someone with a basic understanding of magic killed enough things or, god forbid, people, then with time they could have access to the same kind of power as the Light Force itself.

Thistle turned away from Dugal and walked back to where he had been standing earlier. He swung the scythe like a baton in a wide circle. "It uses the energy from the life force to stop time itself, or if you're attacked by a weapon of a magical nature such as my scythe, your life will be spared at the expense of the sand within the hourglass. The sand is, in the simplest terms, stolen life and stolen time after all."

_So that's how Dugal managed to do all of his disappearing tricks! He was stopping time!_ A light went off in Vaati's head. Vaati had never really been _that_ interested in artifacts other than the Light Force, but he was starting to learn just how useful even minor artifacts might be. Maybe after he got out of this somehow, he'll make another run through the Palace of Winds to see if he could find anything else that had useful properties…

Thistle turned to Condor who had been standing obediently like a statue all this time. "Condor, if you can please confiscate that from his arm, I will appreciate it greatly."

Condor gave a short nod with his unblinking head. "Yes Mr. Secretary."

By this time, Dugal had recovered from having the scythe cut through him, and his breathing had returned to normal. He slowly turned his eyes upward towards the masked fortune teller with a glare. "Mr. Secretary, you said?" he whispered.

Thistle laughed loudly. "Kehahaha! Didn't you know? I run the whole show! I am the Secretary of Everything. But really, I don't pay much attention to the job of Secretary of the Interior. The most fun I have is Secretary of Defense. I send all the tax dollars to improve our weaponry! Or should I say, mine specifically. It's not the President who has all the power if you have every single department in the palm of your hand. All the hubbub over electing Corbama or Fromney was all for naught, but at least it provides the country with a sense of choice and a good deal of comedy."

Dugal lashed out against Condor who had approached him to take away the Phantom Hourglass. A black tendril shot out from Condor's shadow, wrapped itself around Dugal's prosthetic arm and snapped it backwards. Dugal grimaced in pain, and before he could stop him, Condor had ripped the Phantom Hourglass from the modification in the prosthetic that had kept it in place.

"That's a fairly intricate modification you've added to your arm there," Thistle observed with mild curiosity. "I heard your technician is rather talented! I was upset with you first since your little group stole our prototype from the military, but I'm less grumpy since you went and took it a step further, turning it into a magical weapon of sorts. I might have to steal that idea." Then, he sighed and gave a small shrug. "Anyways, what I'm doing isn't as evil as it sounds, though? Of course it involves systematic brainwashing here and there where needed, and the occasional memory wiping spell I've perfected over the many years I've been in the business, but I usually let the people do their thing. They know what they're doing for the most part, and sure they mess up here and there, but running a powerful country isn't easy, you know?" He waved his arms widely. "Do you think I actually want to be bothered with most of the things politicians deal with? Of course not! It's kind of like flying to Europe: I'll buy my ticket and board the plane, but I'm not going to fly it myself or take care of the plane maintenance. I just guide them in the general direction I want them to go. So don't look at me like I want the world to end, because I quite like it here, kehahaha!" Thistle nodded towards Condor once the Cyclops had confiscated the Phantom Hourglass. "Oh and, Condor, can you hand me that gem Vaati has in his pocket as well? Thank you."

Vaati stiffened when Condor's lone red eye swiveled over to him, and his polished black shoes began to step towards him. Thistle really knew everything, didn't he? He clenched his fists, trying hopelessly to break free from the binds. He tensed his fingers, wondering if he could summon even a small spark to damage the binds, but as soon as he did so he felt a sharp crackle nip at his fingertips.

_Great. So the binds probably have a charm as well to REALLY make sure I can't cast spells._ Vaati scowled. He didn't bother struggling against Condor as the man reached for his pockets and pulled out the red gem of the Wishing Cap.

Thistle took both the hourglass and the gem from Condor, turning them over in his hands. However, he took the most interest in the gleaming red gem as he held it up to the light.

Irritated that he was placed in a completely helpless position and had one of his most prized findings taken away from him, Vaati snarled angrily. "So what are you going to do with us, exactly?"

Thistle didn't skip a beat. "Kill you." Then, with a cackle he added, "but I see you want an explanation, and I suppose I can risk indulging you since I'll have Condor kill you right after. Of course I don't owe you an explanation and I'll have less to worry about if I don't, but Vaati I think you'll agree with me, but there's something satisfying about sharing why your plan is so brilliant. Everyone always wonders why the villain makes the mistake almost every single time by telling the heroes – "

"Don't call me that," Vaati interrupted with a growl.

"- what their plans are." Thistle gave the sorcerer a long look. "I'm sorry, Vaati, but I'm going to take the title of 'evil mastermind' because 'hero' is so lame. I came up with this skit first, so you have no say in what role you get to play," the fortune teller explained indignantly. "At any rate, it's difficult and boring if I don't get to share! Who else can I boast about my wonderful plans but the heroes who were so intimately involved as well? We just want everyone to notice how awesome we are, and that's why you'll see that many of us are chatterboxes."

"Oh my god you're so annoying."

"That's what Thyme tells me," Thistle agreed sadly, "and she usually just leaves the room when I talk too much about how great I am, so it's not as fun explaining my fantastic plans."

"Then tell me this," Dugal played along, and he moved his head towards Condor, "why is he working with you and what have you done to him?"

"Kehaha! Condor! Yes, he's changed quite a bit since you last saw him, I believe?" Thistle laughed, tapping the android-like man on the shoulder. "He was our first human test subject for a new technology I invented: Shadow Shard technology. They allow creatures modified with it to traverse through shadows, and also turns them extremely resilient to the point they are near invincible. You've encountered the shadow hounds, no doubt. They're unwanted police dogs who would have been put to sleep had we not picked them up to be test subjects. I think they're adorable, even though Thyme thinks they're grotesque," Thistle sniffed. "It's a minor side-effect of the treatment. Your former employee, Condor, was given a deal to work with us or answer for all of his crimes committed while working with your ragtag Talon gang. He was _most_ helpful and decided to be a test subject while we promised to clear all criminal records, and give him clearance for future transgressions of the law of the common citizen." Thistle chuckled, and shot a chilling and challenging look towards the ex-Talon leader – the complete antithesis to his apparently carefree demeanor, "It was a lot more than you could ever offer."

Thistle turned his heel and began to pace in front of the sorcerer next. "It was over the course of many, many years where the technology was perfected to the point it could be used safely on living creatures. And speaking of perfecting, I even perfected that curse of yours, Vaati, into a complete reincarnation spell." He gloated, enjoying the look of shock on Vaati's face. It was a look as though someone had played the biggest prank of his life. Well, that wasn't too far from the truth: Thistle was one for pranks. "I've been around for a while," he added with a snicker.

"H-how long?" Vaati stammered. He hadn't expected this at all. Normally he would have been upset if another magic practitioner had beaten him to figure out a spell he'd been struggling with, but in this situation he was just completely and utterly shocked for words. Was this lunatic really what he thought he was…?

"We've met before," Thistle supplied.

"_When?"_ Vaati demanded.

"Thousands and thousands of years ago, I dare say." Thistle's voice was just barely above a whisper. He watched Vaati sink in his knees, the energy leaving him and his face one of defeat. The ridiculous, cheerfully colorful bird mask and goofy clothes actually managed to appear sinister. "I doubt you'd remember me, Vaati. It was so long ago and your memory is… a little broken I believe? Kehaha, what a troublesome curse you've cast on yourself, what with severe memory loss and all." Thistle tossed his ghostly scythe into the air where it disappeared from existence. "In all honesty I looked up to you. The Guild enforced all of these idiotic rules, restricting us from practicing sorcery to our full potential."

Vaati interjected, as the identity of the fortune teller suddenly dawned on him. "You… you're a wizzrobe!" He'd heard of The Guild before, back when he was still terrorizing Hyrule as the Sorcerer of Winds. They were a secretive bunch of minor sorcerers, all belonging to the wizzrobe monster caste, but from the little snippets of conversation and rumors he'd heard, he knew that The Guild had a set of laws that they were extremely strict in enforcing. Some of the rules involved taking on a nameless identity, never casting spells from more than one element (i.e. if you were a Fire Wizzrobe, then you had damn well better be casting Fire spells, even if making icicle swords seemed fun), and never inviting unitiated members to Guild meetings. He wasn't really sure about the specifics that were involved with "initiation," but he knew that wizzrobes hadn't always been wizzrobes, and often times, if not ALL times, they had once been normal Light dwellers (Hylians, humans, etc.) who had become 'monsters' known as wizzrobes. Many of these Light dwellers also usually turned up as 'missing people,' and many had been described by relatives as having experimented with dark rites and worship of malevolent gods. Putting two and two together, Vaati had always had a hunch that "initiation" might have involved some demons and a bad deal. The laws, then, were what kept the initiates under control.

"The Guild and its old fashioned thinking trapped us, while you... you showed the world what sorcery was supposed to accomplish," Thistle continued. "I wanted to learn the spells you knew, so I studied your movements carefully. Then one day, you invented a spell that was derived from the magic that reincarnates the Chosen Three. You, with your reckless nature, didn't notice that the spell you had devised was incomplete. If only you'd taken a look carefully you might have noticed, kehahaha!"

"You're just a copycat. A fraud," Vaati snarled irritably, extremely annoyed that someone had succeeded where he had failed.

Thistle tutted. "Tsk tsk. It is not a bad thing to observe the mistakes of others and using their discovery to come up with something better. The world needs people like you, Vaati, who will heroically be the victim the rest of us can learn from. You see!" he clapped his hands together, "I told you you're the hero here."

"The Guild will get you for this," the sorcerer's eyes narrowed to two thin slits, "you broke their laws for dabbling in more than one area of sorcery."

"And lots of other laws too," Thistle agreed. "But how will the Guild punish me if they're already dead? I'm the last wizzrobe alive as far as I know, and none of those idiots ever figured out I could be reincarnated if I died. My humble beginnings were that of a Fire Wizzrobe, then after I died I became an Ice wizzrobe, and then when I died again I became a Summoner Wizzrobe. Reaper Wizzrobes appeared in later times, so I learned a few things from them when I tired of being a Summoner. My scythe is a specialty weapon of Reaper Wizzrobes. Thanks to your _perfected_ reincarnation spell," Thistle stressed the word, rubbing it in Vaati's face that he wasn't cursed, "I've been able to amass lots of knowledge about the different aspects of sorcery over the years thanks to retained memory. I'd hate to think what it must be like for you, coming back to the world as a complete ignoramus every time you died," the wizzrobe sighed in mock pity.

"Almost all of the wizzrobes I've had experience with were stubborn with following Guild laws, and not because they feared punishment," Vaati muttered, ignoring Thistle's jabs at his ego. "They genuinely wanted to follow the laws because that's what they thought was right."

"The key words there are '_almost'_ all," Thistle pointed out.

"I remember a couple who defected, and The Guild treated them like they were mentally ill before they killed them," the sorcerer recounted slowly. "You're one of them, aren't you. A renegade."

Thistle tilted his head a little, and if voice could convey a smile, Thistle's would have been a broad clownish grin of someone who was the boss of life instead of life bossing him. "I prefer revolutionary."

"What are you planning?" Dugal jumped in on the conversation. He didn't really care about all this nonsense about wizzrobe wizards and reincarnation – he just wanted to know what he was dealing with now.

"Simple! I just want to run the world in a way that's convenient for me, and inconvenient for everyone else who's not me. With my Shadow Shard technology I'll have the powerful army I need to use for countries that only listen to brute force, and I'll confiscate and monopolize all magical artifacts so no one else will be able to go against me. It'll take time to prepare, but that's okay," he smirked beneath his mask and gave a tiny wink directed at Vaati, "because I have forever."

An eerie quiet settled in the room as the captives took a moment to digest everything they had heard. And it had been quite a lot to take in at once, especially for Vaati. In the span of an hour or so, he'd learned that there was an ancient artifact capable of stealing and collecting life force, that a wizzrobe was still alive in this modern age, that the wizzrobe was also a renegade wizzrobe, that the renegade wizzrobe had figured out how to turn his curse into a complete reincarnation spell without drawbacks, and that this immortal renegade wizzrobe was also running the United States government. He was also incapable of casting spells because of the restraints, and the wizzrobe knew a lot more than he did about combining technological advances with magic. In short, he was horribly outmatched.

Noticing a lull in the conversation, Thistle had meanwhile given a single nod towards Condor who had been waiting obediently all this time.

As Condor moved towards Vaati in slow, very businesslike steps, determined to remove them from the world with the precise, detached methodology of removing a dirt stain on a windowpane, the wind mage stood up from his knees and stared at Thistle determinedly for a few seconds as though he were evaluating his opponent. There was no way for Vaati to be able to put up a reasonable fight right now, so the only options remaining were to sit still and accept his fate, or to hopelessly fight back anyway just for the hell of it. Thistle had half-expected Vaati to charge recklessly as a final effort to fight back, but instead was surprised when the sorcerer straightened up calmly and gave him a small, knowing smirk. "Alright. So," Vaati addressed him smoothly, still with that smirk on his lips, "I get it. You've obviously planned this out a lot more than I'd ever done for any of my plans."

"Thank you!" Thistle responded cheerfully.

"Do you know what that red gem is that you hold in your hands?" Vaati asked, indicating with his chin the polished stone that was still between Thistle's fingers.

"I know that it's mine," Thistle replied simply. Then, he added, "I also know that it's part of the wondrous Wishing Cap. I do my research thoroughly, Vaati. There's little I don't know."

It was Vaati's turn to laugh this time. It was the chilling laugh that had once filled his servants with terror, sending shudders up their spines even in the heat of summer. "Ahahaha! I know something you don't know. A wild card you never considered in your card reading."

If Thistle was phased, he didn't show it. "I'm not jealous. And besides if you die, you'll know nothing I don't know."

Vaati's sneer widened. "I have a proposition," he began deviously. A part of him wondered if he should have given this more thought, but another part of him didn't care. It was a crazy idea. It was also probably a bad idea, but plenty of good ideas started from bad ideas, didn't they?

"Release me, and I'll recreate the Wishing Cap."

* * *

fleets: I've finally covered all of the Talon guys' past stories (minus Condor, but he's a traitor so he doesn't count pfff)! I was excited when I started working on them because I realized their pasts actually fit ideally to the big plot for the story, and it was something I hadn't even considered when I was writing Avilux! I guess I was lucky there. And yes Defcon. I hope I didn't misrepresent it too much but I'll throw it out there that it's a unique and really cool convention just on the border of legal and illegal :P

Next - I really wanted to emphasize Vaati's recklessness and minimal planning. I see him as the kind of villain who plans things halfway through and then just wings the rest because of impatience (he was really, REALLY dumb in MC and FS and FSA... you'd think he'd learn but NOPE). He still hasn't learned btw.

Thistle and Rend? - Chronologically, where does Thistle and Rend fit with all this? Okay, so it was glossed over here and I didn't spend too much time on it because it's not too important for this story, but if you couldn't catch it from the dialogue, basically it's:  
Vaati reigns, Rend occurs (Thistle summoned from post-FSA), Rend ENDS (when they go back, Thistle is technically alive here because he was summoned post-FSA. There's a span of time where he's in the same timeline as Vaati post-Rend, but Thistle is pre-summon by Opal from TP-Rend time, if that makes any sense... this stretch of time is when he steals Vaati's reincarnation spell), Vaati=cursed, Thistle=successful reincarnation, OA occurs. This actually suggests that Thistle already knew post-Rend Vaati before he actually met Vaati in the TP-verse in the beginning of Rend (which also explains why he could care less if he died at this point - he knew he'd come back to life anyway). ANWAYS I have this all worked out in my head and although temporal shenanigans are always confusing, this works. The Thistle you read about in OA knows everything about Rend and beyond, however, even though Vaati might not remember all the little details ;)

Thistle's scythe: I said in the very beginning that this was a real weapon that showed up in the Zelda series. It's the Phantom Hourglass sand stealing scythe that the wizzrobes carry in Phantom Hourglass! Being a wizzrobe who's lived through it all, he knows how to use the scythes now, too.

Phantom Hourglass - Okay, so I was playing the game and this item really struck me as super creepy. It sucks up all the sand from the monsters you kill, and the bigger the monster is (i.e. boss), the more sand you suck up. Turns out, also, that the 'sand' is in the shape of gold triangles and the description of these force gems are "physical manifestations of life force." I interpreted that basically as "kill things and steal their life lololol." If that doesn't sound evil/creepy I don't know what is.

Lastly, the Wishing Caaaap! Will make any and all your wishes come true. Who will be the lucky person who gets to wear it first? :D

**Iris Martinez: **Thistle's probably freaking you out because he's the evil mastermind of this story. XD Pokemon for Condor? Hmmm, that is tough, yep. Maybe something like porygon (and its evolutions) because he's so robotic both in character and appearance now... or I was also thinking a lot of the steel types, like magneton, bisharp, or registeel. I like the idea of having the Talon guys all have bird-like pokemon so I'm leaning towards porygon-2 (it looks like a duck?)

As for the deviation, ahhh I'm already swamped with requests I haven't finished, so I can't take on any more :( It is a cute idea though :)

**Reily96:** You have serious competition with Thyme! I rarely make pairings, but if I do make one there's an ocxoc pair I'm leaning towards that you can probably guess who and who. I used to go crazy at the thought of readers guessing right on the review page, but now I don't care anymore :) I guess this story is crazy enough that I'm just impressed if people guess right, so guess away! XD

**dark digidestined: **That is what's implied, yes! :)

**DarkSakura: **Ummm, I don't know. I don't think they explained how the hat worked in the game very much. I made up a lot of stuff here though :P  
I'd say the gem isn't a known stone at all, but a crystalline form of magic what have you (i.e. if magic had a physical form, what would it be). Basically I have no idea hahaha

**Anonymous: **"This is a fleets story after all." How depressing! My fault, though, hahaha. I don't think I've written any story that had a truly happy ending (although Avilux was on the happier side, I thought), and I have quite a few stories that are bitter-sweet, or just simply bitter (or utter tragedy). Your analysis is really interesting, and it gives me the fuzzies as an author to see that people are picking things up from both Avilux and OA! (can i hug you - i hug you anyway). Anyhoo, just as food for thought, if I throw in the Wishing Cap here Vaati would have a lot more options for his choices because with it, he can wish for anything he wants on his conditions (or anyone else who wears it, for that matter). The cap is the wild card in this story, because I'm also playing under the assumptions that multiple wishes are allowed (multiple wishes were allowed in MC before Zelda's wish destroyed it). Anything and everything can happen!

**Sybdoodles: **It's heavily implied that Thistle used to be Corbin Robespierre. Corbin's the human Thistle used to be before he turned into a wizzrobe. More on Corbin later ;)

**Sapphiet: **Yup! It's implied that Thistle used to be Corbin Robespierre. Not much is revealed about Corbin's role yet, but I'll definitely go into that before the story ends :)


	16. Reshuffle

fleets: I may not be doing Nano this year, but that won't stop me from writing completely. Thank you everyone who's still reading this during the busy months of fall. Lots of references from previous chapters here, so try not to get too confused! It has been a while since updates.

* * *

**Chapter 16: Reshuffle **

"No thank you," was the immediate reply to Vaati's offer.

There was a brief, awkward pause as the sorcerer's brain attempted to register those three simple words, and then he exploded.

"What?_!_ What do you mean, no? Do you even know what you're refusing, you ignoramus?" Vaati sputtered, offended by Thistle's rejection.

Thistle returned an equally offended expression, crossing his arms over his chest and giving him a long look. "If you think your offer to make the Wishing Cap in return for your release is a good one, well, it's not."

"How is the Wishing Cap not a good offer?_!_ You can wish for anything! Anything!" Vaati cried. He would have waved his arms widely in emphasis if they weren't bound behind his back.

"Have you ever considered I don't need your help to make the Wishing Cap?" Thistle shook his head dismissively. "You're not the only sorcerer around here, you know."

Vaati's fists clenched behind his back, and the corner of his mouth twitched. Although he resented Ezlo for many things that he had put him through when the old man had been his mentor, there was one thing, (_just one_, he emphasized), that he would acknowledge the sage had gotten right: the creation of the Wishing Cap. It was one thing Vaati would allow himself to admit was actually ingenious of the old man, and as his former apprentice, it made his blood boil to hear some other sorcerer claim that the process of making the cap could be copied. Vaati may not have taken the traditional route to gain powerful sorcery, but that didn't mean he wouldn't uphold some values of students of magic, and such a transgression of intellectual integrity made him want to revoke all rights of sorcery from this unacceptable fraud. "You of all people won't be able to recreate the cap. No one would ever have the inventive genius of Ezlo," he spat.

"Oh, I know that. That's why I'm going to have a bit of help from your old master himself." Thistle brushed the comment aside, unbothered. The wizzrobe's careless demeanor annoyed Vaati even more. Thistle shrugged. "I found a few records citing the process of making the cap written by Ezlo himself."

Vaati snorted. "So that's why you wanted to find the Palace of Winds. You thought you could find the rest of the records."

"Hmmm, so you know about the missing records," Thistle mused. "Well since you know about it, yes, I admit the ones I found were incomplete and in the current state I would not be able to create the completed cap myself. Kehaha, you caught me there!" he laughed. "But what would it matter? I doubt you'll tell me, even if I ask nicely, so I'll just have to find the rest on my own. I'm sure they exist. I'm a patient fellow, unlike you, and since time isn't an issue I know I'll find it eventually," Thistle replied dismissively.

A gleam shot across Vaati's eyes, his expression snakelike and predatory as he found his opportunity to strike his deal once again. "And that's where you're wrong. Why do you think I know that some of the records are missing?" Vaati sneered malevolently. "The first thing I ever did as soon as I got my hands on that cap was to destroy the critical half of Ezlo's records. No one would ever be able to make the cap again."

For the first time during the conversation, Thistle appeared genuinely irked. His green eyes narrowed behind his mask, and his grip around the hourglass and the gem tightened noticeably. "I… can't believe you did such a thing."

"No one would ever be able to make the cap again," Vaati repeated, "except me. So I'll do you a huge favor and ask you again, since you messed up your answer the first time. Release me, and I'll recreate the Wishing Cap."

The clock ticked as Thistle carefully reconsidered the offer. The wizzrobe knew he didn't exactly need the Wishing Cap to continue having his fun – his original plan to run the world didn't need the cap's powers at all – but at the same time, it was The Cap. If he missed his chance now, then he would very well never have the same opportunity again, and a powerful item like a cap that could grant _any_ wish in the universe wasn't something anybody should ever pass up. "All right," Thistle said slowly, deliberating on his words. Beside him, Condor's metallic head slowly tilted towards his direction, somewhat surprised by his decision. "I am not exactly sure why you would make such an unbalanced deal, Vaati. Although you will be granted freedom, I don't exactly see you as the type to remain content with the fact that someone else will have their hands on something as powerful as the Wishing Cap. And believe me, I will take measures to make sure you won't just run off with the cap yourself once you complete it." Thistle watched Vaati's expression carefully. "I know half of what is required to complete the cap. I will let you make the cap to a certain point, and then I'll do the finishing touches. So what is it, Vaati? You must have something else in mind that will cause you to pursue this deal." Then, he rolled his eyes, "unless you really thought I'd be silly enough to give you an opportunity to disappear with it after you completed it."

Vaati lowered his face to avoid letting Thistle see his flicker of disappointment from learning that it wouldn't be as easy as he thought it would to take the cap for himself. "Of course not," he muttered, although not very confidently. "I want you to tell me about the reincarnation curse. A way out."

"Ah yes! I did promise earlier that I'll tell you all about it, didn't I? I'll tell you, yes. But it will have to wait."

"And you have to let me in on whatever it is you're doing," Vaati interrupted the wizzrobe before he went on another pointless ramble.

Thistle cackled. "Ooooh look at you, trying to bargain with me. You think I'll be stupid enough to let a potential usurper be a part of my plans? Kehahaha!" Thistle snickered some more, and then he snapped his fingers. The binds that kept Vaati from casting spells immediately released. "Deal!"

"Good."

"_Sir._" Condor, who rarely lost his composure, managed to look flustered even with his metallic face that severely limited the number of expressions he could make to one (i.e. expressionless). His hands lifted and fell as though he wasn't sure where to put them, and then he backed off, deciding he'll just stay put and resume being expressionless: it didn't really suit him to go against superiors. He valiantly ignored Vaati who was shaking the tension out of his wrists and smirking at him smugly.

"It's fine, Condor. It won't hurt me to allow this fellow sorcerer to do as he likes," Thistle reassured him. The wizzrobe was carefree in his demeanor, but his tone said otherwise: it was a warning in disguise. "Vaati can't really do anything about what I've planned. Let's say he decides to kill me right now. Thanks to my _completed_ reincarnation spell," the wizzrobe stressed once again, not dropping the chance to taunt the wind mage about his curse, "I'll be back shortly, and with full knowledge on who was responsible for being an annoyance. I'll have the entire country after him until he is nothing but an obituary. He understands that well, doesn't he?" Thistle added in cheerful mockery. He watched Vaati carefully from behind his mask, almost daring him to try something, but the sorcerer gave the wizzrobe no such satisfaction. Slightly disappointed, Thistle turned his attention back to Dugal who had been quietly watching the entire scene calmly, either contemplating his escape or at acceptance that they were currently too outmatched for him to do anything. "And you? Are you going to bargain for your life too, or are we done with you?"

Dugal looked up, his eyes narrowing behind his glasses. His only response was to spit at the ground by Thistle's feet.

"Mmm, I see. That's not a very good offer I'm afraid. I feel just a bit of pity seeing that the value you place your own life is a gob of spit." The wizzrobe tutted, and then he took a few steps towards his prisoner so that his mask was uncomfortably close to the other man's face. "You were always a little annoying, you know. The Air Force would probably have let you stay if you were just a little dumber. When the medics asked you if you remembered anything, the correct answer was 'no.'"

It took a couple of seconds for Dugal to realize just what Thistle was referring to. He finally made the connection, then, that this beak-faced bastard was also responsible for that incident at the Air Force Academy that had started it all. Until that day he'd been set on becoming an Air Force pilot – that day, he'd seen a nightmare come to life. He'd been out running with his academy friend in the early morning hours when his friend had complained of a sharp pain from his hand. He'd spoken of some shard that was digging into his wrist, and within minutes he'd lost all ability of coherent speech and had turned into some bizarre, charcoal skinned monster without a face.

It was the incident that had him chase after the existence of the otherworldly, it was the incident that had him put under the target of the upper brass of the academy, and it was the incident that had resulted in the creation of Talon Three.

Thistle chuckled when he saw the former Talon leader's jaw drop a little. "We were running a test, then. That running buddy of yours was also a volunteer to help take care of the dogs we were testing our first round of Shadow Shard Tech on. He overheard some things he wasn't supposed to be hearing, and due to a staff oversight he managed to steal one of the shards that were going to be for the dogs. He paid for that theft dearly, as you might recall, but at the same time he gave us the idea to try it on people! He was a good chap."

"You!" Dugal shot, "You're that cadet!" He remembered clearly now: that cadet who had incidentally happened by near the area where the incident with the shard had occurred. The cadet had been the only person who had assured him that he believed the things Dugal had seen, and had later vanished mysteriously when he'd desperately needed another witness to testify for him. There was no doubt now, he remembered the laugh. The cadet had laughed at him with the same, knowing, cackling laugh of the masked man in front of him. Now that his memory was clearer, he realized that his witness hadn't been a lowly cadet, but someone from the upper brass: his memory had only supposed it couldn't have been someone from the upper ranks because then academy wouldn't have discarded his claims of monsters so readily.

But now it all made sense: the Academy had been in cahoots with Thistle, and they'd wanted to get rid of him because he'd seen too much. Thistle had undoubtedly been in the vicinity to check up on him when the incident had occurred.

"Yes. 'That' cadet. I was actually a lieutenant then, I'd have you know. Too bad you couldn't find him later to testify for you, huh? Kehahaha." Thistle tittered. "I probably could have wiped your memory clean of that incident, but I have my hands full keeping track of whose memory I cleared and who I've brainwashed. It's not as easy as it sounds. You were pretty low priority, since no one would believe your stories anyway," he scoffed. "At any rate, can you appreciate how great I am now? I was behind everything! From before Avilux, too. Avilux was also working from our grant, though the fact that they kept the whole fourth deity thing a secret until too late was unexpected… Ah well. It's not like they could have known, and they were so full of themselves, thinking they were the only ones who understood anything about magic with science. Anyway," Thistle stood up straight and lazily crossed his arms over his chest, "I just wanted to rub that in your face before you died. We have no use for you now. He's all yours, Cond – "

"No."

"… No?" Thistle gave a loud, exasperated sigh, and turned to Vaati who had interjected shortly. "I said you were allowed to have fun, but I did not say you were allowed to stop me from having fun."

"And I'm telling you to keep him alive," Vaati replied slowly, "he's useful for the cap."

While Thistle and Dugal had been having their conversation, the sorcerer had been trying to think of what to do with the former Talon leader. He'd been correct in assuming Thistle would make the suggestion to have the man dead. Vaati was pretty sure he wasn't going to miss having Dugal around if Thistle killed him, but at the same time, the Talon leader was someone who sounded like less of an asshole than the renegade wizzrobe. First off, Dugal didn't already have a huge army to exploit. Second, Dugal didn't have a clue about magic, so that naturally put Vaati ahead. Third, Dugal wasn't laughing at him every goddessdamned second. Considering he didn't really know what weaknesses Thistle had at the moment, he'd figured anyone with the same kind of grudge against the wizzrobe was someone useful.

But then, how to get Thistle to agree to keep him alive?

"The cap needs a large amount of Life Force that will parallel the power of the Light Force. Let him," Vaati cocked his head towards Dugal, "collect it. He has experience using the Phantom Hourglass, I believe you called it?"

Dugal gazed towards his direction with an expression of faint incredulity, but remained silent. Thistle, on the other hand, appeared skeptical. "And why should I ask him to do it specifically? I have much more loyal followers than him."

Vaati frowned. Yeah, he didn't have a good response to that. Oh well. At least he tried, right? He gave a half-hearted shrug towards Dugal. Did he feel sorry? In all honesty, not really. Comparing between Dugal and Thistle was like comparing which one was the shinier of two shits.

Also, it annoyed him quite a bit when he saw Dugal follow up his incredulous look to one with exasperated headshaking, complete with the full eye-roll. Apparently the Talon leader had thought Vaati's suggestion had been a useless one and made a great show to indicate it.

Yeah. Vaati was not going to be sorry if Dugal died within the next few seconds.

Suddenly, Thistle perked up as an idea came to him. "Actually! I just thought of something!" Thistle's wide sleeves flapped as he waved his hands excitedly towards Dugal. "You! I am well aware you're very efficient and capable if you're paid well. So how about I hire you, hmmm? I will buy your loyalty."

Before any of them could react, Thistle had summoned his ghostly scythe again with a spinning arc. Then, he swung it across the Talon leader's neck as though to behead him, and the scythe went right through. Unlike last time, Dugal's reaction was less severe. However, he bent over double as though he were in pain and he gasped for air.

"You don't have the Phantom Hourglass anymore, Dugal. You know what that means, right? I stole not the Sands of Time, but some of your life," Thistle explained quietly. "You have three months to live. If you want your life back, ensure that the cap is completed. Work with me. This cannot be undone, except by the power of the Wishing Cap. I will also promise to clear all of your suspicions, records on file, and give you all the federal protection you need so that you will never be pursued again. Of course you have to do this within two months, or you will be dead."

Vaati stood frozen, unable to wrench his eyes off of Dugal who was projected to die in three months. When he'd suggested to Thistle to keep the man alive, this wasn't what he'd counted on.

Thistle continued with his calm, quiet voice. "I trust you will get things done, Dugal. Blackmail Vaati if you have to, if you think he's not working fast enough. I will allow you to use any means necessary, and don't worry." Dugal, who had recovered by now, exchanged uncertain, wavering glances with Vaati. It was a look of dread and shock slowly bubbling to the surface as a numb panic set in, and Dugal's gaze towards Vaati was one of a starving man determined to take the last of the bread no matter what the cost. "Nothing you will have to do to ensure the cap's completion will go on your records. After all, you might have to kill more than a few people if you want to collect the Life Force fast enough." Thistle tossed the Phantom Hourglass to Dugal, who caught it heavily.

Vaati bit his lip. Whatever miniscule percent there had been for he and Dugal to work together was now effectively zero. The Talon leader was either going to be dead in two months, or would force Vaati to comply with the wizzrobe's wishes. They could not work together like this.

He was on his own, and the game was rigged from the start.

Thistle slipped the red gem of the Wishing Cap into his pocket and motioned them to follow. Condor walked over to Dugal and kicked him up as though he were nothing but a stray dog, a scene that was completely unheard of just a year ago. Vaati wordlessly followed Thistle to the door. Although he was free to use his sorcery now, as Thistle had claimed earlier, he couldn't do anything with them.

Oh how far they had fallen.

In good humor, Thistle swung open the door and the humid, salty warm air of the tropical night winds greeted them. They were free from the labyrinth but they were far from freedom. The wizzrobe gestured towards Thyme, who greeted them in plain business attire. "Now why don't I show you where you'll be staying for the next few months? I am nothing if not hospitable to the people who work for me. Kehahaha!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

By the time the sun was up over Cambridge the next morning, Dark found Hawk passed out on the floor in front of the sofa where he'd fallen asleep where he'd been working last night. He could hear the water running from the bathroom, so he figured Hawk was already awake and taking a shower. The teenager stepped over the older man sprawled on the carpet and took a seat in the space that he had claimed his own: the corner of the sofa closest to the wall. Looking at the scene of messy food scraps and empty cans of Red Bull and stained plastic coffee cups, he figured it wasn't all that different from what a college dormitory might look like.

Come to think of it, Dark mused as he took another glance at Kestrel passed out on the floor, the Talon guys didn't look a whole lot older than college graduates. It was all kind of… weird, really. Ever since his dad had been murdered when he'd gotten himself too involved in a Talon affair, he'd imagined the men of Talon to be a group of ruthless, cold killers with greying hair and bloodshot eyes, maybe a few wrinkles from the stress and savagery of a mercenary life. Seeing Kestrel now, relatively harmless and drooling a little, really took that imagery right to the trash.

Dark… didn't really know what to think of it, actually. He preferred to continue seeing them as horrific, monstrous bastards after what they did to his life. It was a lot easier to hate and despise them that way…

Granted apparently the one responsible hadn't been Kestrel or Hawk, but the psychotic Harrier who was now dead, but still. He couldn't forgive Talon for the things they had done.

He sighed. No use thinking about that now. The only thing that should be on his mind was on how to get out of this mess. He wondered if Grandpa Loze was all right. A twinge of guilt crept up on him, when he realized he hadn't thought about Loze until now. The last thing he remembered was Loze's shouts when Hawk and Kestrel's flash bombs had gone off inside the house. He didn't think Loze had been harmed, but he was pretty sure that the government had taken him on their side, especially since an Amber Alert had been issued for Vaati.

How in the world were they going to explain what they had been up to, assuming they got out of this mess at all, to Gramps?

That was another thing he wasn't going to think about now.

In fact, he needed to escape this suffocating atmosphere. He needed to get away, be alone, forget about Talon and the government and Vaati.

Dark's eyes darted to the bathroom, where the water was still running. Then, they darted to the door that led outside. Finally, the landed resolutely back on the sleeping Kestrel. Making up his mind, Dark quickly but quietly stood up from the sofa, and careful not to wake the sleeping man, he gently plucked Bates' stone from between Kestrel's fingertips. Almost immediately, Bates' voice greeted him loudly, and Dark was just about to shush the little sentry before he realized that no one but him could hear Bates.

"And where are you ambulating to, degenerate?"

Dark ignored him and stealthily snuck his way out the door, making sure to take the spare key. He wrote a quick note that he would return in about an hour and a half, and left it on Kestrel's computer so he would be sure the two men would see it. They would no doubt be upset that he had left on his own, but he couldn't tolerate being stuck indoors like he was some prisoner.

Well… he kind of was a prisoner, wasn't he… For starters, he'd been kidnapped, and then taken away overseas with no promise on when he'd be able to go back home.

It wasn't until he was a few blocks away from the apartment that he allowed himself to relax and answer Bates, who had been flittering around him with increasing concern that something was not right.

"It's not a big problem, Bates. I just needed to… needed to get some fresh air." He mentally told Bates. He hesitated a little, but not just because he had to remind himself that he didn't actually have to talk aloud to communicate with Bates. He could feel his pulse, pounding against his ears, only begin to slow back down to normal now: the fact that he'd probably come back to the apartment to confront to very annoyed mercenaries, ready to shoot him if necessary, was more than a little unnerving. Yes, walking out of the apartment without talking to them about it first wasn't the best of ideas, but he needed this. The atmosphere in the apartment was stifling and claustrophobic. "Just keep an eye out for me, alright? Make sure no one's tailing me or nothing suspicious is going on."

Bates didn't respond, but he stopped flitting around and flew next to Dark understandingly. The sentry circled back now and again to make sure no one was following them, but the urgent flapping about had stopped. They walked a couple of blocks, approaching the university campus, and although Dark had been slightly paranoid that someone would stop him, they blended right in with the college commuters, professors, tourists, and residents who were huddled within their winter coats and walked quickly towards their destination with purpose. "You've been working closely with Kestrel," Dark began again, after some time. "Either him or Hawk is going to ask you a lot of questions when we get back, I bet."

Bates continued to listen quietly. Dark appreciated, then, that Bates wasn't actually talkative. The only times he talked a lot was when the sentry had been offended, was purposely trying to be annoying, or was giving information. Sometimes he forgot that Bates wasn't talkative in nature.

"Don't tell them anything, alright? I'll tell them everything I want them to know, so if they ever ask you for anything else I haven't told them voluntarily, then it's sealed lips. Er… minds." Dark didn't really know where he was walking to, but it was nice to wander around aimlessly for once. He'd done it a lot, back when he was still in Japan, whenever he needed to take his mind off things. Sometimes it took him to interesting places. Other times it let him encounter curious characters, such as Vaati, Zelda, and… the other Link. "We need a sign," he rambled on, "Something that will let you know to stop listening to them and to follow me closely. Here, if I rub the side of my nose with my shoulder and then bite my lip for three seconds, that's my sign to let you know I need your help. At any moment, those Talon guys could turn on us. This is a sign they won't know to watch out for." They walked into a Starbucks. Dark later figured he'd walked there out of familiarity. "You're the only one I can trust out here, Bates. Please, help me out."

Bates, who had been listening quietly all this time, finally answered. "I will do everything in my faculty to assist Lord Vaati. If that means alleviating your dilemmas, then so be it."

Dark sighed. Oh well. He supposed that was as good an agreement he was going to get from Bates. The sentry was, after all, a servant of Vaati, and answered the sorcerer above anyone else. At least the fact that the little floating eye intended to help him since that helped Vaati indirectly was a start.

He took a seat in one of the small corner booths by the table. Dark didn't really plan on buying anything; just sitting, taking a rest, and letting the time pass by. Since the past several days had been so hectic, he hadn't been able to just have time where he was allowed to do nothing at all. He watched the people make their way through the slush-covered road outside, and the others who had retreated inside the café to study somewhere warm with coffee. While he was looking around, his eyes landed on a pretty girl around his age, sitting by herself a few tables away. She was fashionable in layers, and even though it was cold out she wore a pink corduroy skirt and sweater tights with legwarmers. It wasn't her fashion sense or her neatly straightened, shoulder length platinum blond hair that caught Dark's attention. Neither was it her cutely flushed face as she poured over the article on her laptop with a slight pout that would catch even the most uninterested guy's attention.

Dark recognized this girl. It was Zelda.

_Shit! _He thought to himself, forgetting that Bates could overhear his thoughts. _I can't make eye contact. I can't let her notice me, she can't get involved in this fuckery too!_ _What is she even doing in England now anyway?_

Dark cursed when he remembered how Hawk had mentioned that Zelda was momentarily safe from the reach of the American government because she was overseas. It was incredibly bad luck that of all the countries and cities they could have gone to, they had flown to the place where Zelda was. He could not let Zelda notice him. Not here. Not now.

Dark stood up quickly, but not so quickly that he would come off as suspicious. He ignored Bates' queries, asking him what was wrong. He checked on Zelda one more time, to make sure she hadn't noticed him. He was relieved to see that she was still reading the article on her screen intently: she hadn't noticed Dark. So far so good.

Then by some divine prank, just as he had taken a step towards the door, Zelda had decided to take that moment to look up from her computer and rest her eyes, stretching. It was then that their gaze met. As Zelda's soft blue eyes gradually widened in surprise, Dark imagined his were doing the same, except in fear.

Yes, he would admit he was afraid. This was the last person on earth he'd wanted to involve in his and Vaati's troubles _again_.

"… Dark? Is that you?"

* * *

fleets: Vaati and Dugal become servants to Thistle for the rest of their days. The End. Hope you guys liked it because that's all I have.

... yeah, like you'd believe that. Anyways, everything's out! Well, almost everything. That incident Dugal mentioned in Avilux? Yeah, I hadn't planned on using it as a plot-point for this story, but that's the beauty of outlines: Thistle's plot with this story just... fit. Perfectly. And since Thistle was created for the purpose of being a villain for this story, I've made every attempt to make sure he screws everyone over. It's a villain's job. Hope he's doing a good enough job of it.  
Also, Zelda! She wasn't in my original plans, but I received a request and several queries wondering if she'd be in the story, so I made a little more effort to think about where she could fit. Turned out that I actually _did_ have a good spot for her: I just wasn't considering the options so much because she hadn't been a favorite in Avilux. Now that I'm a little more serious about including her, I don't think I mind having her around that much. She won't take over the story, I'll promise you that. I hope you find she adds more to the story than detracts!

**dark digidestined: **Yep, he's the big bad! That's what I tried to hint whenever I claimed that Thistle was meant for this story hehe ;) As for Vaati remembering Rend... I'm not sure how big a role that will play. It's not critically important, and I wouldn't want that to become the focus of this story. I might sneak it in there if an opportunity presents itself.

**SubZeroChimera:** No, but now he's kind of screwed himself over. Unless, of course, he actually does come up with a way to take the cap for himself. Right now the situation is looking pretty bleak - Thistle knows what he's doing. He's been in the overlord business for many many many years now, after all XD

**Lord Siravant: **And after the conclusion of the election today I just might have to move to Canada.

**Sybdoodles: **Aaaaand his situation keeps getting better. And by better I mean worse XD. Dark, we're counting on you (though he's kind of messing up everywhere too).

**Reily96: **Ahahahahaha I like that. Everyone wins! And yeahhhh Vaati's just blundering and blundering. He pretty much gave Thistle the Wishing Cap for free.

**DarkSakura2256: **Baby kestrels are so adorable too! They're like little footballs with faces haha. Annnd ahyup, Vaati's just digging himself a bigger hole in the ground.

**Iris Martinez: **Ahhh, well so I have a policy that I only take requests if it's part of an event I do on deviantart. The requests I have to do currently is all part of a backlog of requests from an event a while ago that I still haven't finished yet... T_T. One way to get a request is to look out for any of the free-request events I might do on deviantart, and sign up for it! The reason why I do this is so I can keep things fair with request schedules and so I don't get too many requests. Haha yeah those wizzrobes were such a pain! As for Vaati... well... while he managed to stay alive this time, he didn't really succeed in getting himself into a better situation... lol


	17. Redeal

fleets: Eep, sorry this took almost a month to update. I had a lot of things going on.  
I received a few messages asking if I was alive, and pretty much all of those people seemed like they were going to incur the wrath of fleets just for asking. I know, I'm scary sometimes (?) but really please don't feel bad about asking about updates! I know how to manage my time - I'll live - and it gives me just a little more reason to push this higher up the priority ladder. :)))

That said, I might not be able to honor those requests (i.e. just because you asked, doesn't mean I'll magically be able to poop out an update the next day). But it doesn't hurt to ask, yeah? So don't be afraid! ;)

* * *

**Chapter 17: Redeal **

"… Dark? Is that you?"

"I uh, I… um…" Dark stammered, clearly caught off guard and looking like he'd broken all of Grandpa Loze's dishes. Zelda wasn't supposed to be here. She was supposed to be somewhere far away, doing who knows what with her research projects no one cared about (though he'd never say that to her face), and more importantly miles and miles away from involvement in This Mess. She'd already been dragged into the First Mess, which had been the huge incident with the Avilux I company: she should not be involved in another one. It wasn't like she was Vaati, who had _chosen_ to be a part of This Mess like the reckless idiot that he was. She was just an innocent bystander like himself who was about to be dragged into this agai…

Well, actually she still had a chance. All he had to do was not tell her anything.

With a verbal smack from Bates telling him to pull himself together, Dark realized he was making things more suspicious for Zelda by panicking. Yes, she was already suspicious. She was giving him those squinty eyes and was leaning forward from her table like his English teacher did when he lied about Vaati turning his homework into a dog (though he was sure that wasn't beyond the sorcerer's abilities).

What a great start, Dark.

"Um, fancy meeting you here," he said, lamely. He realized he didn't sound excited enough, so he pulled out the chair opposite of Zelda and tried to be as enthusiastic as he could as he sat down. "So yeah! I can't believe I ran into you here, long time no see!" It was a sorry attempt – he could tell from the way Bates hid his eye under one wing in embarrassment for him. He couldn't help it: he was never a really bright and bubbly guy to begin with, jeeze.

"Right…" Zelda pulled back, looking down her nose. Her legs were crossed and her arms were pulled towards her chest, closed and uninviting. Dark couldn't blame her for not being super happy to see him. Dark flinched inwardly, thinking back on all the times he could have reached out to her but hadn't after her messy pseudo-relationship (i.e. "It's Complicated") with Vaati.

Of course, he never knew about the details since Vaati never told him anything, and everything he knew he had inferred from their arguments he had overheard. Well, that had mostly been Vaati yelling at the phone. Thinking back, Dark hadn't handled that very well either, since he'd sometimes found Vaati's comments over the phone laughter-worthy. Some of his favorites had been, "You're as fun as a lawn ornament, and even then you were no fun at all," "I bring lots of girls home all the time, you should have known this since several thousand years ago, and back then that wasn't the first thing you complained about," and "Fine! I liked your great great whatever grandma better anyway!"

Alright, so he had a shitty sense of humor for laughing at those horrible comments and giving Vaati a thumbs-up.

But that wasn't the point right now.

The point was… Zelda looked like she was going to punish him for ruining whatever good mood she'd had before he ran into her. "I know. It's been a while," she repeated, just coldly enough so Dark could imagine the frost forming along the edges of the table. "Where's Vaati? Isn't he with you?" she asked in a tone that suggested Dark was better off with other company.

Dark hurriedly shook his head. "I don't know where he is. I mean, no! He's not here at all!" He omitted the fact that he was looking for him.

"Oh." She relaxed a little, the tension leaving from her shoulder.

Dark tried to figure out if he was safe from being the victim of more gazes that made him feel as undesirable as a sewer rat. Zelda was frowning thoughtfully at her fingers now, and it was difficult to tell if it was from relief or disappointment. At any rate, he figured that she would be less chilly towards him since she'd learned that his sorcerer housemate wasn't here. He tried friendly conversation to get back on the right start. "So what are you doing in Cambridge anyway?"

"Study abroad program. I'm studying ancient history now," Zelda replied, still not meeting his gaze and puzzling over something. Something about Dark's previous statement seemed to be bugging her as her brows furrowed behind her bangs. "What do you mean, you don't know where Vaati is?" she asked, suspicion creeping into her voice again.

"_Her whetted perspicacity makes your efforts to clandestineness futile_," Bates quipped privately to Dark, _"you might as well reveal your numbered rectangular pieces of black and red before she asks more uncomfortable queries."_

"_Numbered rectangular… you mean cards?"_ Dark rolled his eyes. Then, he realized Zelda couldn't see nor hear Bates and that she thought he was rolling his eyes at her. He stammered hurriedly aloud and tried to go with it. "I mean… yeah! Isn't it annoying? I have no idea where Vaati went. Not that I care. He's probably somewhere up in the sky with his head literally up in the clouds or something." Then, he shot to Bates, "_No! I am NOT telling her anything and making this more complicated. She's not going to be involved in this." _

Zelda seemed to buy it. She gave a small, slightly sour smile and nodded as she stirred the coffee next to her. "That sounds like him. He always did go up to the sky, never telling anyone where he was going or when he was coming back." She turned her attention back to Dark. "Well, so? Then what are you doing all the way in Europe, Dark? Did Grandpa Loze actually let you go on vacation by yourself, or are you here for other reasons?"

"I'm here to… see a friend of mine. Actually," Dark peered over at the clock hanging on a wall, "I was supposed to meet him soon. In five minutes actually. So I really have to go. It was nice seeing you, b-"

"Before you go, do you want to meet up again? We can catch up," Zelda stopped him just as he stood up from his seat. She gave a small sigh, and she hesitantly reached out her arm apologetically. "I mean… I'm sorry we stopped being friends after… well…"

"What? No! We were never 'not friends,' okay?" Dark paused, realizing his tone had come out as rather harsh in his hurry to get away from Zelda. Whoops. He joked it off, "Are you saying you stopped being friends with me, Zel? I'm so hurt I think I have to leave crying right now." He laughed, and was relieved to see the other girl laughing as well, hitting him lightly and denying that was true. Seeing he had managed to set things right, he quickly made another attempt to leave the café.

"So, tomorrow then? I'm free all day."

"Ummmm," Dark screeched to a halt. "Nope. I'm busy all day tomorrow."

"What about the day after?"

"Busy then too."

"Any time in the week?"

"I'm busy all week."

"Dark Petrov are you sure we are still friends?_!_" Zelda stood up, her hands at her sides exasperatedly. "If you don't want to see me then you should just reject my invitation without making things up about how you – "

"I'm not making anything up! I'm really just incredibly busy!"

"So busy that you can't even have lunch with me?_!_"

"Yes!" Dark cried. He looked around uneasily at the others sitting around them in the café. A few people were giving him disapproving looks, and he heard a few comments indicating how "men like him are the worst." It was frustrating.

"_She's going to find out anyway. I would just inform her before things get out of the palm." _

"Shut up Bates!"

It seemed to Dark that everything had abruptly gone quiet, and then he realized that he had actually said those words out loud, instead of directing them to Bates in his thoughts. He cast a furtive glance at Zelda, hopelessly praying that she would think nothing of it, but at the same time he knew it was useless. Zelda was eyeing him with suspicion, her hands on her hips. "Who is… Bates?"

"I was… er, did I say that?" Dark tried his best not to sound guilty. It wasn't working.

"Yes."

"Oh." Right. Oh. How was he supposed to follow that line anyway? It was over. He was doomed. Fuck that flying eyeball.

"_I hearkened that." _

"_Well fuck that too." _

"You're hiding something, Dark," Zelda nailed him in place with those words. There was no escaping her now.

Dark half-expected … well, to be honest he didn't really know what he'd expected would happen. He'd just assumed that Zelda would probably get really upset with him for hiding something important, and then he'd be subjected to lots of yelling and drama. Kind of what he thought Vaati had to go through, when he'd overheard their phone arguments. So he was surprised when, instead of getting upset, the other girl looked at him in genuine concern.

"You can't tell me what it is though, can you? It's that serious, isn't it?" She lowered voice. Her expression softened sympathetically when Dark looked at his feet and gave one slow nod. Zelda gave a quick look around the café, and then turned back to him. "You don't have to do this alone, Dark. We survived the Avilux incident together: you know you can trust me. I might be able to help."

"I don't think -"

When Bates interrupted him again, Dark had half a mind to go find a mirror to hit him with. "_The lady conjectures that she investigates the ancient texts. Perhaps she might be cognizant of the gentleman Corbin Robespierre."_

"I don't think… actually that's a good point," Dark trailed off. Then, he sighed, troubled. "This isn't really a good place to…"

Zelda was already a step ahead. "We'll talk tomorrow then. Think about what you want to tell me, and I'll find us a more private place."

"I, well I don't know if…" Dark faltered. He was sure he was going to get an earful from Hawk and Kestrel about sneaking out of the apartment today without telling them anything, so he didn't know how he was going to be able to go out on his own again tomorrow. He didn't want to tell them about Zelda if he could help it.

"Tell them you're going to do what any fun-loving visitor in London is going to do," Zelda winked, anticipating Dark's worry. "You're going on a date with a cute Cambridge girl."

"I… but…"

"And if that doesn't work, then I'm a cute Cambridge girl with rich parents, okay?" She playfully pushed the gawking Dark towards the door and waved him out. "We're a date. Promise!"

"I… um…" Dark scratched his head. He loved and hated that girl's intuition sometimes. "Promise." He was about to leave, but then decided that there was one thing that he should mention to Zelda before their meeting tomorrow. "I'm interested in ancient history too, actually," Dark cocked his head casually. "If you can, let's talk about Corbin Robespierre tomorrow. It'll be a fun conversation."

As he turned to go, he could just imagine Zelda's eyes lighting up with resolve. Her voice followed him eagerly, with determination. "You got it."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

It wasn't long after it was decided that 'Team Epic,' as they were now going to be called, that Vaati, Dugal, Condor, Thistle, and Thyme disbanded to base. Vaati had scoffed at their new label that the wizzrobe had enthusiastically named, but at the very least, Thistle seemed to take the term 'Team' to heart and wasn't treating them so much as prisoners but guests.

Vaati was accompanied by Thyme, while Dugal had taken a different turn with Condor and the wizzrobe himself, the poor bastard. He was grateful that at least he was being escorted by Thistle's assistant – she didn't seem to find unnecessary pleasure in making his life as shitty as possible, and she was good to look at to boot. At the moment she had led them down to a hidden staircase that had led out of the labyrinth and was leading him to his new residence for the next few months. The initial half of the way down was reminiscent of the old dungeons Vaati was used to, with the cold brick walls and the mildew stench hanging on the walls like a cloud of gnats. Then, they came across a sliding door leading towards a compact, single train monorail car. Vaati guessed they had travelled about two miles underground with the monorail before they had stepped out into a facility with very clean white walls and bright fluorescent lights.

Things got modern rather quickly.

Vaati followed Thyme closely behind as they passed full military armored guards standing sentry sporadically throughout the facility. As they passed, they gave one respectful salute to the both of them. Surprised, Vaati raised his eyebrows.

Thyme noticed his quizzical look, and explained. "All of the guards at this facility have been notified of your status as a full member of Team Epic. Communication is swift between Thistle and the guards."

"Team Epic… are we seriously – "

"Yes."

Vaati groaned.

"They will answer to Thistle first, but should you need anything they will gladly assist you," Thyme continued, barely batting an eye as she passed another guard who saluted her with robotic precision. "You are one of us now, for the time being."

Something about them creeped Vaati out a little. Maybe it was the military obedience, but they gave off a soulless aura, almost as though they were empty husks. Then it hit him, as he remembered some of Thistle's quotes on brainwashing. They probably _were_ empty husks. "Brainwa-"

Thyme interrupted him sternly. "It's not what you think. They signed a contract. They chose this willingly."

Vaati warily eyed another guard who greeted them with the same, precise salute by the door that Thyme had arrived at. All of the guard's faces were covered by a riot helm so he couldn't see their eyes, but he figured if he could see them, they would be as lifeless as a doll's. Who would choose this willingly? Vaati voiced his query. Wouldn't family miss them?

Thyme walked past the guard coldly as he held the door open for them. "Criminals with no chance of parole and life imprisonment would choose this willingly."

"I see…" Vaati's expression darkened. The more he learned about Thistle's organization the more he realized there was very that had been left unaccounted for. So far he couldn't find a single weakness he could exploit to reclaim the upper hand. "Indeed these kinds of criminals usually have the dangerous edge that makes them powerful, and Thistle has them as trained puppies who will listen to what he says without a second thought."

"Exactly. Now don't you wish you had taken our offer the first place before things turned sour? You would have been with the best."

"I _am_ the best."

The doors led to an entirely different surrounding than the clean, sterile atmosphere they had come from. It was actually the kind of setting that Vaati rather liked: rich red and golds, velvet curtains, sleek black mahogany tabletops and just luxury everywhere. There were two levels in the room, with the center platform holding a well-stocked bar and the conspicuous absence of a bartender. It screamed the Vegas kind of luxury, with the casino theme of roulette and blackjack tables around the room and a few slot machines that appeared to be out of order. A random chess set in the middle of a play sat, lonely, on top of the bar counter. Thistle's love of cards was also evident from all the random playing cards around the room.

"This is a bit garish for my tastes," Thyme mentioned as they walked through the casino lounge. Vaati noticed that she almost purposely went out of her way to step on the cards that had fallen on the floor, as though she hated them. "It would be nicer if more people actually came here."

"Well maybe if the guards weren't _braindead then_-"

"They're _not_ braindead. Brainwashed," Thyme corrected severely. Then, she sighed. "I know. It can't be helped though."

The sorcerer was a little surprised by Thyme's regretful tone. He kept a mental note: if one of Thistle's closest accomplices, at least that's who he assumed Thyme to be, had a chance of not being fully committed to Thistle's cause then he might be able to take advantage of that. Vaati picked up a roulette chip that was left on one of the tables. "Who comes here anyway?"

"I do."

"But… can you even play roulette by yourself?"

Thyme barely looked at him as she kept walking to the other side of the room where more doors were waiting. There was a small smile on her face with a hint of bitterness. "Here, the house never wins."

They continued on. The hallway leading out of the casino-themed lounge appeared almost like a hallway that had come straight out of a five star hotel. The doors along it had signs for various entertainment rooms such as an arcade, a swimming pool area, and a dance hall. There was even a gym facility that was much too large for the scant number of people here who would even use it. Everything was extravagant, and just a little too big for it to be considered comfortable. Instead of being luxuriously accommodating it was eerie with its emptiness. "You are free to make yourself at home at any of these lounging areas and the numerous entertainment areas. Thistle is proud to treat his guests as kings."

Again, there was something off with Thyme and Vaati was beginning to catch on. He noticed how she had included Thistle's name almost deliberately, as though she didn't want any responsibility associated with her. It was Thistle's idea for this, it was Thistle's idea for that. Not hers.

Interesting.

They took a left turn at some point, down a several flights of stairs. "Before I show you to your room, I am going to take you down to your designated work space. Thistle also frequents the sub-basement floor, where we are going now, to conduct tests with magic. The rooms are specially reinforced so there is minimal interference from outside vibrations and noise."

The walls of the sub-basement were once again the sterile white. It was a long hallway lined with heavily sealed metal doors, all with impressive, heavy electronic locks requiring both fingerprint identification and number code to unlock. Thyme stopped just outside a room with large, double reinforced windows where they could look inside. "This is the only room you are given access to. The code will be written on a slip of paper in your room, and there will also be instructions on how to dispose of it once you've memorized it."

She stepped aside after punching in the code, letting Vaati enter first. He glanced past the doors hesitantly, wondering if something awful was waiting for him. It seemed like something Thistle would do…

"Do I need to hold your hand?" Thyme smirked.

Vaati's expression immediately turned sour, and he stepped into the room. "No," he replied flatly. The room was tiny. There was a long narrow desk in front of another set of large windows, and on it was a pair of funky looking black gloves connected to a bunch of wires and metal scaffolding. There was also a computer terminal on to which a third of the wires were attached, a microphone, and a sheet of paper with the title "Voice Command Reference Sheet." The sorcerer picked up one of the gloves, turning it over in his hands, and then peered through the windows to another room beyond it. It was much larger than the smaller room he was currently in. In fact, the set up reminded him of some kind of super-scaled-down stadium and he was in the announcer room. There was a single large table in the middle of the large room below him, just a few feet down. A large camera hung from the ceiling, and he saw how the voice commands appeared to be specifically directed at letting the camera adjust itself over the table. Along the walls were many robotic arms, each with tweezer-thin claws that would be able to manipulate objects with precision.

When Vaati turned towards the woman next to him quizzically, Thyme gave a single nod. "You will be using this room to complete your project. This machinery is part of another experiment by Thistle to create technology capable of long-distance sorcery. Any spells that are cast by the user in this room can likewise be cast in the same way in the room below you by the robotic arms. Any materials you will need to complete the cap will be sent to the room below you, and you will complete it from up here." She pointed at a screen and keyboard embedded on the wall behind the desk, and a cursor blinked in an empty text box. "You may send any request for items through this terminal directly to Thistle, who will approve whether or not you will get them. You must also file a reason for the request in as much detail as possible. Note that by failing to oblige by the rules will result in delays, and that your delays and failure to complete the cap will not hurt Thistle and his plans in any way. According to him, he does not exactly _need_ the cap. It is simply a luxury. They will only hurt yourself."

Vaati tossed the glove back down on the table in disgust. "This is so clumsy and awkward," he frowned, "can't I just work on the cap with everything in front of me?"

"This is just another precaution Thistle has taken to ensure you don't just make the cap for yourself," Thyme replied with business-like coolness. "Furthermore, if anyone other than Thistle himself enters that room an alarm will sound that will call all Shadow Hounds and Condor to the area, so I suggest you stay put up here."

"But I'll work faster if I don't use this junk and all these rules."

"Then I would suggest you learn how to use it soon, because otherwise Dugal would be the one convincing you to work faster," Thyme said softly with a sneer. "A desperate man is a dangerous man."

Oh yeah. Dugal. Maybe he should have left him to die instead. "Where did he go, by the way?"

Thyme leaned against the wall lazily, with her arms crossed over her chest. "Right now? He's probably done with Thistle's induction speech and all of the do's and don'ts. So he's probably already on his way to fly out of the country now. He seemed to already have ideas on where to collect this… Life Force." She observed Vaati closely, watching his reaction.

"Oh. Right. His murder quest," Vaati muttered. He was a little surprised that Dugal had gone immediately to do his part, but maybe that was because he didn't understand what it was like to be told he only had two months left to live. Usually _he_ was the one telling someone else that.

Seeing Vaati in thought, Thyme pushed herself off the wall and slowly walked over, slipping a hand on the sorcerer's shoulder. "Any other questions?" she asked softly.

Vaati stiffened a little. His gaze remained on the empty table in the floor below where the cap was going to come to life for a second time in history. "Know how to kill Thistle?"

"Any other questions?" Thyme repeated.

Vaati remained quiet for some time. He hated to admit it, but his situation was becoming more impossible by the second. Dark was going to give him a hard time for this, if he ever found out. If only he could get his hands on the cap once it was complete, he could turn everything around.

But… how would he even do that?

"No," he finally replied.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Late that night, Vaati lay awake in his comfortable, silk bed. He had to admit, this was one of the best beds he'd ever slept in, and yet he was having trouble sleeping.

Part of the reason was jetlag, but that wasn't all of it. There was a small, annoying part of his thoughts that was telling him something the other part didn't want to hear. And yet… this small little voice was gradually becoming louder with each passing moment, and the other half that had been refusing to listen was actually beginning to turn an ear.

So the big question was… why _not_ join Thistle? Joining Thistle granted full access to knowledge that would free him from the reincarnation curse, and if everything went well why, he'd truly be an immortal god. Additionally, Thistle had already made things extremely easy for him in terms of world domination. The wizzrobe had the power to do whatever he wanted with the world, and if he became a real ally then by extension Vaati would have that power as well.

World domination – it had been a dream he had given up on. He'd become content with what he'd had after he'd regained his memories, and his only real goal had been to free himself from the doomed reincarnation cycle.

What would it be like, to hold the world in the palm of his hand, to mold it however he wished? He had to think big! Forget that petty thing called pride: this was an opportunity to be the leader of the greatest army ever to walk the earth. With the combination of magic and technology, there would be nothing that could stop them. Stop him.

Would… that wizzrobe even honor such an alliance between himself and Vaati? Vaati wasn't really the type to share a spot at number one, and it didn't seem like Thistle would be willing to do that either since he currently had no reason to.

"I was only considering that option because there aren't any good options left!" He said aloud to no one in particular.

Because the other option was to die trying to usurp Thistle. If what Thistle said was true, then that wizzrobe was incapable of death. As soon as Vaati had even managed to kill him the wizzrobe would pop back up like a bad dream. And as long as Vaati had the reincarnation curse to worry about, he feared death. No, it wasn't that he feared death itself.

He was scared of losing his identity.

Vaati's eyes narrowed in the darkness. _Well then, as long as my only choice is to work with that wizzrobe…_

_Then I might as well be the best ally there is. _

And then, just when he'd gained the wizzrobe's trust and had found a weakness to exploit, he was going to gut and roast that beakface like a Thanksgiving Turkey. He might as well embrace Team… Epic (nono, the name was definitely going to have to change) and start acting like a member of the team.

That meant getting rid of anything that would hinder the progress of this new team, namely anything that would place Vaati in uncomfortable situations.

The sorcerer immediately thought of Dark, and he had a hunch that the oaf was no doubt trying to track him down after all his warnings not to. He couldn't imagine him waiting patiently at Gramps' place with that sentry he'd left him with. Of course, he didn't know for sure whether or not Dark had gone after him, and if his attempts were any good at all.

That had to stop. Dark was absolutely not allowed to interfere with this, or try to "help."

There was no helping him now. No one could help him. Thistle had planned everything too well for any helping to be done. All he could do was to go along with it.

And if that meant he had to hurt Dark to get him to retreat, then so be it.

Vaati sighed into the air. As he closed his eyes, he thought about the sentry he had left with Dark. That sentry – he'd left it with Dark in the hopes that it would help him with anything that might threaten him while Vaati was away.

Funny how he was going to use the sentry against him if Dark had involved himself in this matter too much.

A servant, no, his creation, should not be able to disobey the creator.

* * *

fleets: And Vaati's rash decisions continue. I stand by the belief that Vaati's the type who's really quick to come to conclusions without giving things much thought (remember when he couldn't find the Light Force in MC when he would've been able to figure it out if he'd just done a LITTLE research? Yeah. He's dumb sometimes).

Anyways, things got rearranged these last two chapters: Vaati's now against Dark, Vaati's turning Bates against Dark, poor Dugals' against everyone (in a sense), Vaati's with Thistle (sort of), and Zelda's with Dark. Fun times. Also hard to keep track sometimes so there you go.

People have also been asking me about pairings? They might show up, they might not, but if you see one then I won't deny it because it's either supposed to be there or ended up being there. I'm going to take as unbiased an approach to pairings and just let the story write itself (basically I have no idea what can happen in this regard: it'll manifest, or not, while the characters go their ways progressing the main plot). That said, there are two possible pairings I'm rather fond of that might inadvertently show itself, but we'll see :P I'll leave you guys to guess.

I'm thoroughly enjoying writing the invincible villain. And no, I won't disappoint you guys by throwing in a lame deus ex machina. Don't you ever get tired of going against bad guys who have that one obvious weak spot that, if they'd only made some effort to deal with they could have won (I'm looking at you, Vaati, who was defeated by the _same flipping sword not once, not twice,_ _but THREE TIMES__ askldjfwat_)? Hopefully I made the baddies invincible enough this time :P

**SubZeroChimera:** If you can't beat'em, join'em! XD Yeah that still doesn't solve anything though, does it :P

**Reily96: **And he keeps digging a bigger hole for himself... oh well! Ahhh her role isn't a huge one, I'll say that upfront so I don't disappoint you. But yep, she's back! :)

**Lord Tuxedo: **And bigger and bigger whoopses. But hey, might as well join them if you can't do anything about them, right? XD Dark's going to find Vaati to be a pain in the butt though.

**This-is-Bob-Brown: **Things aren't what they used to be, that's for sure. Probably a lot easier back then to take over stuff XD  
And thank you! Dark was/is a hard character to write mostly because I'm still trying to figure him out - I'm glad you enjoyed this so far and thank you for the review! :D

**DarkSakura2256: **Dunno if he had any other choice, but Dark's not going to be too happy about this :P. Yes, I'm back! Kind of. Maybe it's a good thing I have lots of things to do, at least that's what some people tell me, but I dunno, sometimes I wish I had more time to myself X_x. I hope you've been doing well yourself!

**Sybdoodles: **So incredibly invincible is right! This is just one of those messes with no end in sight (shot)  
Okay, okay so there is an end. But it'll be a mess to get there, unfortunately for the characters and fortunately (?_!_) for us! Can't have it too easy haha.

**Iris Martinez: **I didn't vote because I'm an alien (from outer space)! Okay but in all seriousness I couldn't vote because I'm a foreigner :(  
I guess in this story he can be "good," but he's not really good in the sense that he's out to save the world. He mostly just wants Vaati to clean up the mess he started (because Dark would have been perfectly fine at home if Vaati's scheming didn't end up with Dark getting kidnapped). Hehe, well, like you said he's not supposed to be a hero, is he? So it'll be weird if he saves the day, right? :P


	18. The Moon

fleets: Sorry I had limited internet access this winter so I couldn't really work on stories or demonstrate any semblance of being alive. Are people still following this story? I feel like my long absences are causing people to abandon ship. Oops.  
Anyways I hope this longer chapter makes up for the fact that I haven't updated in a while D:

* * *

**Chapter 18: The Moon**

_The Moon: _

Ah, and here is the warning; the card of _The Moon_. There is trickery ahead. _The Magician_ and his other will fall from grace, disregarding peers and becoming filled with envy and avarice. They will do well to guard against their overwhelming ambitions.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next day, right around lunch time, Dark made his way to the university where he'd agreed to meet up with Zelda. He sighed. This morning had been stressful and not very fun. In fact, it hadn't been fun since yesterday afternoon, when he had returned to the apartment to face two very upset people who were more than willing to kill him if they had to.

Convincing them they didn't have to kill him had been a long and grueling argument, akin to taking a chainsaw to remove a splinter from a toe. As soon as he had reached the first two steps to the apartment door and reached for the doorknob, the door had swung open and a hand, which he could have sworn was an evil crooked talon of some bird of prey, had snagged around his collar and had pretty much thrown him inside. By the time he'd gotten his bearings, there was an ominous click and he found himself pinned to the floor by a silenced gun pointed on his forehead, ready to shoot with a single wrong move.

Hawk had given him thirty seconds to explain just what the hell he had been thinking when he had irresponsibly wandered off without telling anyone. In other circumstances, Dark probably would have told the older man that he sounded like a mother, or maybe given him the finger, but in those other circumstances a gun wasn't involved. So instead, Dark had managed to angrily blurt out the script he had prepared in his head during his walk home, about how he'd fucking felt like it, was it such a big deal?

Alright, so that hadn't been the best response either and not much of a script… but when people got angry Dark got angry at them too.

Of course Hawk, or maybe it had been Kestrel he wasn't sure because of all the chaos, had felt the need to give him a painful reminder about how serious Talon was, so Dark had received a nice hit across his face with the metal barrel of a pistol and a warning shot by his ear. It took a lot of convincing to get Hawk and Kestrel to believe Dark's simple, truthful story that he had wandered off because he had felt restless and stuffy, sitting and waiting in the apartment for something to happen. For one thing, Hawk seemed to have trouble believing that Dark would do such a dumb, careless thing like that, especially when there were people out looking for them.

It took all of Dark's pride and maybe a little more to convince the two Talon men that yes, he was in fact _that_ stupid. Not his fault they assumed he was smart, for the love of Nayru. Oh my fucking god.

For another thing, they had become even more suspicious when he had mentioned he would have to leave the house again around noon the next day. By then, however, they had somewhat bought into the fact that Dark was _that_ stupid and careless, so they just sighed tiredly and looked as though they had a headache when he told them he was going on a date with a local girl. Bates had helped considerably as well, reassuring them that the young idiot would be under his watch, and that he would help Hawk and Kestrel get rid of him if he saw that Dark was up to no good.

While Dark knew Bates had been lying, the little sentry had been frighteningly persuasive: he took after Vaati after all, and the sorcerer had always been good with words. He'd second-guessed their alliance for a second before Bates confided later that he believed Dark was looking out for his Master's interests more so than Hawk or Kestrel. Bates even summoned a copy of himself so that Kestrel could continue decoding the encryptions while Bates "babysat the imbecile." Kestrel would hold on to the alpha stone that would let him see the copy's sight, while Dark would keep the beta stone that would let him see the original's sight.

Oh. Yes. It should be mentioned here that now there were two verbose flying invisible eyeballs. They operated much like a radio system, and anything that was understood by one eye was also understood by the other – anything one eye saw, the other eye did as well.

The only downside was that having Bates split up would cause his Master to use a little more magic to maintain them. The magic used to keep Bates around was miniscule, and Vaati probably barely noticed it. However, this new development without Vaati's consent might make him notice. Bates explained to Hawk and Kestrel, however, that it shouldn't be a big deal because we _want_ the Master to notice, don't we? No doubt he is on our side, and will help defeat whoever we are trying to beat.

At any rate, after all of that arguing and explaining and convincing, Dark had been allowed to wake up the next day without a bullet in his head and walk outside to meet up with Zelda. He found her in front of the Cambridge University Library. She was already waiting for him eagerly, and immediately pointed him towards a different building. "I found an empty classroom we can use. Here, follow me."

Dark briefly exchanged glances with Bates. Zelda seemed to have something she wanted to share even before Dark had explained what he wanted to know, and he was curious about what she had in mind. She swiftly led him to a classroom that wasn't being used, and they set up two classroom desks together and she opened her laptop.

"I know that look on your face," she explained as she waited for her computer to start up. "You don't have the luxury of time, so I'll start right away unless you have something you want to say first. You wanted to know about Corbin Robespierre?"

Dark faltered a little, slightly taken aback by Zelda's straight-to-the-point demeanor. He smiled despite himself, thankful that she was understanding about not nagging about what his situation was. "Yeah, that would be great. Thanks."

"All right. So I was trying to look up as many things about him as possible last night, because I could have sworn I'd seen that name come up a couple of times during my research for my advisor."

"Really?_!_" Dark exclaimed excitedly. This girl was good!

Zelda gave him… well, 'a look' was the best description he could come up with, the kind that put the brakes on everything. "There's good news, and there's also really bad news about this," she began.

Dark slouched back into his seat. "Oh…"

"The good news is that about a year ago, someone had contacted my advisor about needing any texts regarding ancient Hyrule, fictional or otherwise. They'd specifically asked to keep an eye out for anything and everything with Corbin Robespierre. Well, so my advisor finally found the time to come up with a list of all the texts from the university library where Corbin was mentioned and had asked me to send it to this guy who wanted them. It was all pretty weird, in retrospect. The library would _never_ let any books leave the rare books collection permanently, as this guy had requested, unless they had a really special reason. I don't know what this guy did to get them, but the university must have liked him a lot to have given those books away. Or he bribed them somehow, I don't know. I have the titles right here – there's not a whole lot though." She pulled up an email correspondence on her computer with a list of books.

"And the bad news?" Dark asked cautiously, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.

"The bad news is that all of the titles that had been available at the library have all been shipped out. We don't have them anymore, and because a lot of these were from the rare books collection, I don't think you'll get your hands on them easily." She kind of flopped her hands towards her sides in defeat. She gave a small shrug and sighed. "I don't really remember what I'd read about when I encountered them. I kind of remember the gist that he was some noble or something? I'm sorry, Dark, the titles to the books are all that I can give you but I hope you can find this somewhat useful. There were only five volumes out of the thousands of books in the university library, so you can imagine he wasn't mentioned much in history."

"Wait, go back for a moment," Dark interjected, suddenly curious and not at all dejected. Bates was also on alert now, and was carefully looking at the correspondence that was up on Zelda's laptop. Dark tried to contain his excitement – this could be the mysterious guy they were looking for! "You said they were shipped out to some guy who wanted to know about Corbin Robespierre," he tried to keep his voice steady, "did you get his name?"

Zelda looked at him for a few seconds, wondering, and then scrolled the screen on her computer. "Well I _do_ have his name and address, and also his email if you want to get in touch with him about them?"

"You… you have all of that?" Dark blanched. Okay, so there was a chance that this guy wasn't the same mystery guy they were looking for, but if he was, well… was this really that guy they had been having so much trouble tracking down? And sure there was a chance that the email address was a temporary account and that the address was as well, but this had the potential to be a huge gain for him and Bates. Oh and Hawk and Kestrel too.

"Yes, I do," Zelda confirmed, slowly. "He said his name was Ernest Constantine. Why?"

Dark took a deep breath, containing his excitement. He tried to keep his voice level. "So the thing is, we've – I've been," he corrected hastily, "trying to track a certain person who has been collecting everything related to Corbin Robespierre." He noticed Zelda watching him with more or less a poker face, and he hesitated, fumbling for words. Then, he gave up. "Zelda, I just… I need your help…"

"I know," she replied patiently. She put a gentle hand on the flustered boy's shoulder. "But?"

"But if I tell you, then you'll want to get involved and that would put you in danger," Dark mumbled.

Zelda watched him intently. Then, she snapped her laptop closed and gave him a smirk. "Can I make a guess?"

Dark met her gazed, questioningly.

"You didn't come to England because you wanted to, did you?" Zelda continued. "Can you trust the friends you are with now?"

"_She sure knows how to interpret your countenance," _Bates chuckled by Dark's ear.

Dark hesitated, scrambling for an answer that would keep things as less complicated as possible. However, he didn't know what the right thing to do anymore even _was_ – should he tell her or should he not tell her, when she was already figuring things out on her own so quickly? No, he didn't trust Hawk and Kestrel, so didn't that mean it would be even worse to bring Zelda in the loop, because then he would have put her under the mercy of two untrustworthy men? But at the same time, wouldn't it be good for him to have an ally he trusted?

The hesitation was enough for Zelda to get the answer. She leaned back, and gave a small sympathetic smile. "I think I understand your situation, Dark. Would it put you at ease if I promised I won't do any more than you want me to do? You might think 'help' means I'll run off and fight a bunch of bad guys myself, but that kind of recklessness is the stuff you do – "

"Hey," Dark frowned.

Zelda laughed. "It's true! Didn't you used to do that sort of thing, back in Japan?"

Dark smiled, despite himself. "Haha, I guess so."

"Anyways, there's other kinds of help that's less flashy, but is still crucial to success. The kind of help no one knows about because it's all been going on in the background, but nonetheless important. Even if I can't do anything _for _you," she said, quietly now, "at least let me be that person you know you can count on when you can't count on anyone else."

There was a brief, embarrassed quiet, and then Zelda blushed and waved her hand in front of her face as though she could wave the words away. "Hahaha, that came out a lot more awkward than I'd intended, didn't it? Anyways, I won't press the matter further," she quickly tried to keep the conversation going, "but just know that I'm here for you. I'm your friend, Dark, don't suffer alone."

Dark scratched his head and fidgeted, slightly embarrassed as well for having stared maybe a second too long. No wonder Vaati had taken an interest in her before: she had one of those endearing personalities that was difficult to dislike. "No, no I was wrong. I should trust you more than… well…" he looked up at the ceiling, avoiding her gaze, "basically Dugal's involved again."

"Don't tell me that's who your 'friends' are," Zelda's tone changed abruptly, becoming cautious and incredulous.

"No, but it's not any better either. Vaati's with him."

"Din, what is he _thinking?_"

"Not much?"

"Apparently," Zelda rested her forehead in her hands exasperatedly.

"On top of that, the government is after us right now, but we don't really know why."

"Well if you know you didn't do anything wrong, what's there to be afraid of with the government?"

Dark gave a long frown. "For one thing, even though _I_ might not have done anything, the idiot sorcerer might have."

"Good point."

"For another thing, I just have a really bad feeling about the government right now. Something about them rubs me the wrong way, and I'm not just talking about their tax policies. It's complicated."

Zelda leaned back with a tired smile. "When is it ever not? It can't be as crazy as what happened with Avilux two years ago though?"

Dark paused to think, and then looked down at his feet. "Actually, it might be. Maybe even crazier even."

At this, Zelda blinked. Then, she gave a long whistle. "Wooow. That is… wow. That's really something. Are you saying," she brought her face closer to his, "magic again?"

"Probably," Dark muttered sourly. Maybe back when he was little he thought magic was cool, but with all of the unfortunate incidents happening because of it he was a little more than resentful of it sometimes. He noticed Zelda had a different, wide-eyed and curious expression.

"Oh no don't give me that look! You look excited!" Dark snapped. "That's the kind of look that worries me!"

Zelda giggled. "I said it once, Dark, I promise not to get involved! I just can't help but think it's kind of exciting, you know?"

"Right, because hanging out with killers and being hounded by your own government while trying to find your psychopathic roommate is _really fun_."

"Haha, I'm sorry I can't help it. You have to admit it is kind of awesome. The magic, I mean. Anyways, here, let me give you the address and contact info of Mr. Constantine." She reached into her bag and tore off a piece of notebook paper from her notebook, and then scribbled down an address. "By the way, what's so special about Corbin Robespierre anyway?"

Dark shrugged. "We don't really know. They say he was obsessed with becoming some kind of wizard or something."

"Weirder and weirder," Zelda shook her head. She handed the slip of paper towards Dark. The address was somewhere in Guam. Dark didn't really know where that was, but he figured he'd find out pretty soon after he'd brought the information back to Hawk and Kestrel. He hoped it was somewhere warm. "There."

He took the sheet and tucked it in his pocket. "Thanks," he said as he stood up. He turned away quickly to leave for the door, somewhat in a hurry to leave. It wasn't because he didn't like Zelda – rather it was because he hated ending conversations. It made him feel awkward. What was he supposed to do when a conversation ended? Like there, he got what he wanted, was he supposed to drabble on about unimportant things, or take the notebook paper and slap it with the back of his hand and say, "Well, there's that," which would inevitably lead up to a conversation consisting of "Yep," "Uh huh," "Right," "Yup," "Well," "So yeah…"?

Vaati was better at this sort of thing.

An urgent thought, however, overrode his awkwardness and forced him to stop just short of the door for one last word. He briefly looked over his shoulder to where Zelda was packing her things, getting ready to leave as well. "I don't think I'll be able to talk to you for a while, but before I go I just have to make sure one last time,"

Zelda rolled her eyes with a smile. "I _won't_ get in trouble even though I'm super worried about you. You have my word." A little more serious, she looked at him straight in the eye. "I was part of the apocalyptic magic problem the last time with you, Vaati, and Link. I know what magic can do. If it seems like I'm taking things lightly, well, it's because I'm actually really scared for you but it'll be worse if I act scared."

Dark paused, and gave a sad smile back. "Then that makes the two of us."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"You were right, Bates, it was a good thing we met up with Zelda. Now we have a better chance to find out who that mystery guy is," Dark exclaimed on their way back. It was still somewhat difficult to keep his facial expression flat as he spoke to Bates in his thoughts, lest he risk looking like a mentally unstable person talking to himself, but he was getting used to it. Bates huffed and rolled his eye just barely on the edge of his field of vision.

"_I verbally suggested to you so," _he muttered.

"I know, I know, don't give me that attitude. I listened to you at the end, didn't I?"

They walked along the sloshy winter sidewalk around the University town, and while Dark normally would have been less than cheerful having to walk in the cold, dreary, and just oppressingly grey weather, he was so super chipper that even passerby couldn't help but catch his contagious chipper mood.

The two continued to discuss their findings, and 'Beta' Bates relayed what Kestrel was finding in real-time as the sentry had already passed along what Dark had found out to 'Alpha' Bates, who was with Kestrel. Guam, he informed Dark, was a small tropical island about a couple hours away from Japan by plane, and a military-based territory owned by the United States. They chattered to each other excitedly for a while, talking about how even though they didn't know how that information fit in the grand scheme of things, it seemed to make sense. They laughed at each other's half-joking, half-serious conspiracy theories about how the tiny island with a firm military base was a great place for secret, suspicious experiments of a forbidden nature.

"_Master Vaati might have even overseen the operation," _Bates chuckled as they trudged down the town, bustling now with people making their way back to work after lunch. As the sentry was about to make another comment, a painfully familiar presence interrupted him. It stopped him in a jolt, and he lagged behind Dark as he tried to get his bearings.

"_Do not indicate any difference in behavior. Continue as though nothing had happened," _the voice in his head ordered.

Bates trembled a little, eyes wide in fearful awe, before he snapped back and calmly fluttered back to Dark's side with a deadpan expression. It was such a thorough transition that even Dark, who had noticed Bates fall behind, had not noticed the brief flicker in Bates' expression. Bates was, after all, a sophisticated spy for the greatest sorcerer in the world.

He calmly waited for the voice to command something once again. He had a lot he wanted to say, but it wouldn't be in his place to speak to such a presence without permission.

Master Vaati had finally reached out to them. Finally spoken to them after all this time. Bates would have melted in a puddle of relief at the sign of his Master's safety, maybe even crying up a little, if it weren't for that steel-hardened discipline of servitude. With the skill of a masterfully deceiving spy, Bates assuaged Dark that nothing had changed and the two continued to wander cheerfully back to their apartment, all the while Dark remaining unsuspecting of the fact that there was a third listener amongst their group.

"_So, I see that Dark has gone and taken some sort of exotic vacation somewhere? I don't recognize this place. This isn't near Ariko anymore, is it? Where are you now?"_ Vaati's voice wondered. Bates gave him a prompt reply.

"_Cambridge. In England. Right by the University."_

"_Really?"_ Vaati mused, _"Now what is he doing there for? Report everything he has been up to these past few weeks." _

Bates gladly filled his master in on everything that they had been up to, including how they had been kidnapped by the remaining Talon mercs and were now working together to find where Vaati was and what the government was up to. The little sentry also briefed Vaati on how they had also encountered computer code laced with magic reinforcements, and that they were tracking down a mysterious individual who seemed obsessed with 'Corbin Robespierre.' Vaati took great interest in the findings about the mystery person, but he cut Bates off short when he learned that Dark was nearing the apartment where Kestrel and Hawk were.

"_That was good. You have done more than I could have hoped for," _Vaati praised, and Bates did his best to contain his joy as the sorcerer continued, _"I have special orders for you now, and it is critical that you do them. Lead Dark away to a private location, away from prying eyes. Lead him to an abandoned ally, and take him on a long walk. Buy me some time. I may need to intervene if his answer is not one I like." _

Bates didn't mean to hesitate, especially not with Master Vaati. Maybe it was from hanging around Dark too much, that guy kept treating him like… well… more like equals than Master Vaati ever would. Of _course_ it was expected that he wasn't anywhere near equals with Master Vaati, but being on the same footing with Dark might have given him too much independence: independence led to identity and individuality…

If Bates could have blushed, his skin would have flushed a bright crimson of shame when Vaati caught his hesitation – that wasn't appropriate behavior for a loyal servant. _"You hesitated," _Vaati's voice cut through the air accusingly like a hot knife through ice.

"_W-wondering…"_ Bates stammered brokenly. He couldn't put sentences together in his current state of nerves.

The silence was near unbearable as Vaati seemed to consider Bates' confession. Even though the sorcerer said nothing, the sentry could sense a reflecting sort of puzzlement. He couldn't tell, however, whether it was accompanied with a disdainful frown or a mild, curious one. Servants never, ever questioned or wondered. They were always supposed to follow the Master's orders with blind faith. They weren't supposed to know the 'why's' of Vaati's operations. Bates had surprised even himself with his reaction, and although he was ashamed by the fact he had dared to question his creator himself, another part secretly hoped Vaati would humor him and explain what was going on.

For the sake of Dark… he needed to know.

Finally, Vaati decided to explain. _"I'm going to help Dark. All I plan to do is to advise him to stay put, and stop getting involved. And if he refuses, well, then I intend to provide him with the best protection he can hope to get."_

Oh. Well, that sounded extremely reasonable and not at all sinister. For a second Bates had been worried that Master Vaati had been planning on hurting Dark for some reason – why else would an abandoned alley be so necessary along with all of this secretiveness from Dark? Bates' wings flapped loosely, then, as he was overcome with shame that he had wasted his Master's time by wanting an explanation. This was why servants were supposed to listen without question, so they wouldn't waste the Master's time…

Master Vaati already had plans for them. He was looking out for them. Master Vaati was kind.

Bates listened intently as Vaati explained just what, exactly, he was going to have to do to help him make preparations for his talk with Dark. As the little sentry listened to the details, he couldn't help but wonder at all of the trouble Vaati was going through to keep them safe. Master Vaati was looking out for lowly life-forms like them, but was he looking out for himself? Was Master Vaati all right? Did he need help?

Bates, however, couldn't find it in himself to ask any of these things. It would be greatly offensive to Master Vaati if he'd asked: the last thing the great sorcerer would want is to be worried over by a pitiful sentry spy, a disposable creature worth as much as a penny in a wallet full of a hundred dollar bills.

So Bates didn't ask, and remained obediently quiet.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was right around when they were back near their apartment that Dark noticed something different about the sentry eye. They had been in mid-conversation about Hawk and Kestrel when, all of a sudden, Bates stopped abruptly in his tracks and stared blankly forward, almost as though something had possessed him. Dark slowed down, and tilted his head, puzzled. "What's up?"

Bates' eye slowly locked on to his. He stared at him for a few seconds, and then turned around in a wide circle before wordlessly floating off into a deserted alley nearby. It was extremely sudden, and this new behavior had come out of nowhere. Thoroughly confused, Dark stood in place, looking after where the sentry had disappeared for a few seconds, deep creases marking his forehead.

Thrown off from his cheerful demeanor from the sentry's new, slightly creepy vibe, Dark frowned and began to follow him with a gradually quickening pace. "Hey, where are you going?"

Dark ran after the sentry, who led him on a fifteen minute trek around the Cambridge streets. The sentry flew further and further away as it could just fly through the walking crowd while Dark had to push his way through while trying to keep an eye on Bates. At the same time, however, Bates seemed to wait for Dark when it seemed like they were just about to be separated, and would occasionally glance back to see if the teen was still following him. Eventually, Bates turned into an alley, making a few turns into several more abandoned corners where the snow had turned brown and sloshy from the dirt and the trash. Dark could feel his heart quicken as he became cautious and alert, and he had a bad feeling about Bates' sudden change in behavior. It had come from absolutely nowhere, and although his instincts told him he shouldn't follow the sentry further down the alley he couldn't just leave Bates to wander off to who-knows-where. What was going on?

"Bates, hey, snap out of it. Why did you fly off like that?_!" _Dark demanded as soon as he had caught up to Bates, who had stopped abruptly at a dead end. The brick walls of the buildings loomed above them, and it almost felt as though they were leaning down towards them so as to block out the sun. Dark wanted to get out of this claustrophobic place as soon as possible.

Bates gave a sinister chuckle before he turned around to face the teen, though the voice wasn't exactly his own. It was a familiar one that Dark hadn't heard in a few weeks, and it gave him a jolt to hear it here.

"_How is your vacation going, Dark?"_ Bates eyes glowed red as Vaati spoke through him. Dark could just imagine the sneer that accompanied that voice.

"Vaati…?" his mind swam. He hadn't expected to be contacted by the very sorcerer he had been looking for all this time. What was he up to, and why was he contacting him now all of a sudden? And where the heck was he?

"_Just thought I'd check up on you. Make sure you weren't getting yourself into trouble. I noticed the sentry I'd lent you had duplicated itself without my permission, so I was curious what was going on."_ Vaati paused, as though giving Dark a chance to give an explanation. Dark, however, was in the middle of collecting his thoughts and didn't seem to be able to come up with anything coherent to say at the moment. There was a deep, annoyed sigh from Vaati before the sorcerer continued. "_And it seems like you just couldn't stay out of trouble after all. I see from your other sentry that you're with the other remaining Talon members."_

At the mention of Talon, Dark found his voice. "Vaati, you're with Dugal right now, aren't you?" he clenched his fists, "Where the hell are you?"

"_By Farore, Dark, that's not how this works. I'm trying to keep your ass out of this and I'm not going to accomplish that by telling you where I am. I'm pretty sure you'll find the first plane to where I am as soon as I tell you, and if you do that I'm going to have to hurt you. Maybe even kill you. Let that sink into your head a little." _

Even as Bates watched him in an eerie, trance-like state, Dark could tell from Vaati's tone alone that the sorcerer was serious about his threats this time. Vaati would warn how he would destroy anyone who annoyed him all the time, but he'd never really meant any of those threats before. This time, it sounded as though the sorcerer was seriously considering harming Dark. "Kill me. This… isn't one of your usual empty threats, is it," Dark confirmed slowly.

Vaati scoffed. "_First off, my threats are never empty. Second, I really don't want you come looking for me because then it will be such an annoying nuisance to have to get rid of you. Do you realize what your interference will do? I have these really amazing plans all laid out for me, and I won't stand for it if yet ANOTHER pesky idiot named Link comes and ruins it!_" There was an audible huff as Vaati snorted irritably, wherever he was._ "I'm asking you nicely for now because out of all the Links you're a little more reasonable, but honestly you're trying my patience and I am THIS close to ruining your day with an air strike. "_

"Yeah, like you can really call an air strike," Dark muttered under his breath sarcastically. He began to look around him, trying to map a way to get out of the ally and somewhere safer in the event that Vaati had something unpleasant planned for him.

"_Ha! I actually can," _Vaati exclaimed, to Dark's surprise._ "You see? You don't know a thing about how great my plans are. You don't understand the scope of this campaign. I have the backing of the entire government, you fool, so if you insist on interfering you'll have the entire country going against you." _

Dark's eyes narrowed, but he didn't say anything. He'd almost let his eyes widen in surprise, but this time he kept his emotions under control. He was good at that.

So… it seemed like Vaati was working with the very people he, Hawk, and Kestrel were going against. What could that possibly mean? Did that mean he had been working with the wrong side this whole entire time? No, it didn't mean a whole lot, actually, considering how Vaati never had a great track record for being a good citizen of the law: he'd been portrayed as a villain in history, even. But still, Vaati was his friend, and that meant he should look out for him.

In this case, looking out for him most definitely meant getting Vaati out of whatever trouble he was in now. After everything he'd begun to piece together about the government, he doubted they could be considered trustworthy allies. In fact, all of this crap about magic and mysterious security systems gave him the feeling that something sinister was up. Throw Vaati into the mix, and he was almost certain that whatever the government was up to, was probably not good. A good friend would do what was best, even if the other friend would hate them forever, right?

"You'll go against even me?" Dark asked one last time.

"_For fuck's sake Dark, how dense can you be? YES," _Vaati snapped. There was a pause, and then there was a sharp exhale of air as Vaati hissed. "_You're really not going to stay out of this, are you," _Vaati stated. _"I'm not going to particularly enjoy getting rid of you, you know, since you're alright I suppose, but you're forcing my hand here."_

Dark wasn't really paying attention to Vaati's words anymore. Screw this. He'd gotten his answer and it was that Vaati was going to be the stubborn idiot that he was. If they were going to be enemies from here on out, then he had to get the fuck away from where Vaati could see him. Now.

Dark made a break for it, running in the opposite direction of Bates as fast as he could, his feet slipping in the melted snow. As he ran, he took Bates' stone between his fingers and chucked it as far away from him as he could – there was a possibility that having that on him could be used to track him somehow, and he wasn't going to take chances.

Unexpectedly, however, the stone stopped in midair just in front of his face, and in his surprise he skidded to a stop. It was a good thing he had stopped, too, because a hot laser shot right across his path. The moisture in the air evaporated into a thin smoke where the laser had trailed.

"Shit, Bates," Dark slowly turned to see the sentry's eye glowing the same bright red the laser had been. The teen's voice cracked in a hoarse, disbelieving whisper, "shit, Bates," he repeated, "you can't do this."

Vaati's loud cackle reverberated around the narrow alley walls as Bates relayed his master's voice. _"Ahahaha! I thought I'd misheard you earlier but you really did give it a name! This sentry isn't some kind of a pet, you know. It's more like a super-high-tech video camera or something." _

"No, he's my partner," Dark growled savagely, now thoroughly annoyed by Vaati. Sometimes he forgot just how awful the sorcerer could be. "Bates, why are you doing this?" Dark pleaded. "Don't listen to him."

The dark-haired Link made another attempt to run, but was again stopped by a searing red laser cutting across his path by the sentry. All this time he'd thought Bates was relatively harmless: he'd never imagined the flying eye was also a flying laser weapon. Maybe it was something only Vaati could do…

"_Master Vaati is only attempting to assist us_."

Dark, who'd had his mouth open in protest, immediately clamped it shut as soon as he heard Bates' voice this time. The teen looked at the sentry closely, and what he saw made his gut sink like a heavy iron. Dark could read Bates' subtle expressions pretty well by now, and he realized Bates was looking at him with a finality laced with regret. He was doing something he didn't want to do if he could avoid it.

And it was all Vaati's fault.

Blood boiled up, heating Dark's face in red hot fury. How dare Vaati use Bates like that? Dark could only imagine how Vaati must have bullied Bates into this. Bates should know how wrong it was to derail everything he and Dark had worked on these past few weeks – they were so close to uncovering the truth! There was no way Bates would allow Vaati to put an end to everything they had worked on. Bates knew this was wrong: Dark could read it on his face! The only reason the sentry was helping must be because Vaati had forced him to help. Why else would he do this?

"Vaati how dare you –" Dark snarled. He didn't have time to finish, both because his anger made it impossible to string together a coherent sentence and because sirens began to wail with a piercing shriek near them. Lights flashed red, blue, and white as police vehicles crowded around the ally entrance, blocking the exit. Before he could react, strong arms pinned him against the wall, forcing his cheeks to be pressed against the cold brick wall that was slightly damp from the snow. His arms were yanked unceremoniously behind his back, and he felt the cold, unforgiving metal clamp down on his wrists, binding them in place.

The policemen shoved him down into the back of a police car even as he struggled against them. They didn't even give him a chance to explain himself, or let him know for what crime he was being taken in. Dark didn't doubt that Vaati and his connections had something to do with this. As he was being driven away to goddesses knows where, Bates floated down next to his shoulders sheepishly with his wings curled around himself tightly. The sentry didn't look at him and spoke softly. Apologetically.

"_One sunrise later you will understand. This is for the best. It will all become transparent in due time."_

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I was wondering what you were going on about when you said you needed help catching someone within the next fifteen minutes, but now it seems like I have to thank you for pinning down your troublesome friend. He'd been giving us small trouble trying to track him down," Thistle nodded towards Vaati who was next to him, sitting in front of his work desk and fiddling around with the mechanical arm controls in a bored fashion. The wizzrobe hung up the phone he had been on earlier and it disappeared in the palm of his hand with a small puff of smoke. "Next time, though, I'd prefer if you gave me more notice than a mere fifteen minutes. I don't have that much of a grip in Europe as I do in the United States, and if it weren't for the fact that I had an agent around the Cambridge area by happenstance this wouldn't have worked."

"Well it did work, didn't it?" Vaati muttered, curling his shoulders in a way that clearly stated he wanted Thistle to leave. His expression was cold, and he seemed upset from the way he used the equipment in front of him with more force than necessary.

"Do be careful with that, Vaati," Thistle frowned when there was a strained creak from the machinery Vaati was using. Then, he went back to tapping the side of his beaked mask wonderingly. "Honestly, though, I didn't think you'd go above and beyond so early in helping us. You always did seem to be the reluctant type."

"Mmf," Vaati gave an annoyed grunt.

"And what a bastard you are, turning in your own friend! You had such wicked suggestions too," Thistle mused. "I didn't really see the point in using our resources to provide food and accommodations, even if it were in a prison cell, on your friend Dark. Now that I have you, I really didn't need him anymore."

Vaati stared at his hands with a chilling expression while Thistle cheerfully pat him on the shoulder. The sorcerer's hands clenched inside the gloves he was using to control the gadgets in the room beyond the glass windows, but he seemed to hold himself back from breaking something.

Thistle rambled on. "Such a good idea you had! I could have the very Hero himself, the one chosen by the goddesses to be the champion against evil, to be confined and under my jurisdiction like a miserable pet. Kehahaha! I love your humiliation idea, Vaati, it's no wonder many of the Guild mages looked up to you for your ideas and methodology." With an over-exaggerated sweep if his arm, Thistle waved and chuckled out the room, leaving Vaati to himself to continue staring at his hands.

Ten minutes passed after the wizzrobe had left, and Vaati still remained in the same position. His brows were furrowed together at the middle, creases lining the bridge of his nose in the beginnings of a furious snarl.

The part of himself that usually dictated his actions didn't really care what had just happened, what he had done to Dark. He had no choice in the matter, and at the end of the day this was the best course of action. Dark would understand later.

Assuming there was a later.

However, the other part of him, the part with a conscience, hated himself for it. Dark would think that Vaati was completely sold on the opposing team. He'd feel betrayed, no doubt.

_And I'm no stranger to betrayal,_ Vaati thought briefly, as he remembered his old master.

It was an unpleasant thought, and he shook it aside. Things quickly became bitter whenever he reminisced about the past. And it didn't really matter what kind of past he remembered. Even those so-called glory days of his, back when Hyrule was still a monarchy with dragons and knights running around killing each other, his memories were never truly happy. Because back then, a part of him, that stupid part with a conscience that he'd wish would just _SHUT UP RIGHT NOW THANKS_, would also hate what he was doing.

It had all escalated after he'd stolen the cap. It had begun with him demanding some kind of validation from Ezlo, to show the old man how his own philosophy about power was the truth about the world; how the only winners out there were ones who had the resolve and power to do the most horrific deeds the weak ones couldn't fathom enacting. Vaati had taken over Hyrule with a show of brutal yet magnificent force and if it weren't for the fact that he had, in a silly oversight, hadn't realized he'd had the Light Force under his nose the whole time he would have conquered all.

He'd been sealed after that, thanks to that dumb hero. He'd risen again, though, and this time he'd been hit with a sense of skeptical puzzlement – if he'd claimed godhood, then why weren't the goddesses themselves punishing him for it? His existence as a dark deity should have been an insult to the great goddesses themselves, so why weren't they coming down from the clouds or wherever they were, and smiting him down with some classic thunderbolts? If they were so powerful and kind-hearted, then shouldn't they remove the blight that was causing Hyrule so much grief?

These questions, though small in voice at first but growing increasingly louder with every malicious deed he committed, eventually ate him up. He continued to commit more crimes in an infuriated desperation, becoming increasingly angry the more he got away with his acts to the point he didn't even care anymore. He hated the goddesses for being useless, and he hated the people even more for believing in such a worthless religion which had been nothing more than an illusion. The only thing he could believe in was the truth that pure power held.

All of those bitter acts in the past… he couldn't help it because it was the only way to validate what he'd been doing. At some point his only enjoyment was to prove again and again how stupid it was for people to believe that the goddesses would make him pay for everything he'd done. He could take over Hyrule and nothing would stop him until he'd already made a mess of most of it. Years and years of getting away with his crimes and seeing others getting away with theirs made him cynical of the so-called idea that the good triumphs over all. From his point of view, he'd been doing everyone a favor by proving how worthless their beliefs were…

The same thing was happening now… this sort of perverted self-sacrifice to help. People were going to hate him for what he was doing.

He didn't care.

He didn't want help.

Dark would understand later, but until then let the fool hate him for it if only to save him.

Dark had been trying the same thing for Vaati, but when it came down to it…

Dark had been no match for him.

He would always be the greatest evil.

* * *

fleets: Meh, I don't know if I pulled off what I wanted to pull off. I wanted to go with a kind of parallel theme here, with both Dark and Vaati refusing help from their friends out of fear that they would be responsible for anything awful that happens to their friends because of it. Dark is finally convinced by Zelda to accept help and that's what friends are there for, while Vaati is utter fail at this.

Also I didn't think we had enough Vaati angst so there. Considering he used to be a Minish, who seem to be inherently helpful, I liked the headcanon that he'd think he was actually helping with all those horrible things he did *shot*

lol sorry for the lack of happy. But look on the bright side! The darker the middle is, it can only get brighter even if it's cloudy!

ok i'll stop now.

sorry.

just too happy to be back again :P

**Mirria1: **Would it make you feel better if I said Vaati has ideas, and better ones than the ones he's been having these past few chapters? XD

**Iris Martinez:** We'll see, then :) I have plans for Dark. I see him more like the Vaati in my other stories so far: not exactly a conventional hero that someone like Link might fill, but a hero all the same.

**SubZeroChimera: **We'll start seeing hints on how all of this can/might resolve itself eventually, but things still look pretty awful for everyone right now, doesn't it XD. I'm finding too much fun in this misery. I might understand Raem a little (maybe he was secretly a fanfic author lol)

**Sybdoodles: **Well, now he knows it just got worse doesn't he... Haha well don't worry about the love stuff! I think it pairs into the adventure genre, considering most adventure stories have a little bit of everything without any one aspect becoming too overbearing. So it won't be another genre thrown in, just a supplement to what adventure genres should have in the first place (if that makes sense?). Just hinting here and there, nothing real heavy. Kind of like in Avilux, except hopefully better executed. Don't know if I'll succeed though, we'll see...

**Reily96: **First off... omg is that pony TS I see on your icon there. Secondly, I give you struggling author brofist. Thirdly, glad to be of service!

**DarkSakura2256: **I'm sorry you're not well :( I hope you've been doing better since you've last written! It's a brand new year, hopefully it gives you the chance to start over! Ohhhhh Thyme. More on her later, for definitely sure :D

**Lord Tuxedo: **Wow that was one interesting read. You're right, I do intend to navigate the rough, murky, uncertain, and probably not-super-well-thought-out waters of the concept of power in this story. Vaati kind of disregarded Bates as unimportant, mostly because of how Bates behaves around him (compounded by the fact that Bates actually believes that's how servants should behave), but clearly Bates has more thought in him than Vaati gives him credit for. And this dynamic doesn't really work, because Bates would probably have prodded Vaati more on his need for possible help if it hadn't been such a severe servant-master relationship and more like something Dark-Bates has.

The reason why I say it's not that well thought out, though, is because I'm reaaally trying to avoid the cliche scenarios to all of these master-servant themes. One of them is the classic "servants turn on master and master is defeated" scenario, which I hope to avoid. At the same time, I do want to play with the aspect that neither Vaati nor Thistle seem to have a firm grasp, despite all of their control on power, on their own relationships with the ones who would be able to help them best. In this regard, Dugal is probably the only leader character in this story who actually has a cohesive partnership with his team, even if they had disbanded (minus Condor, but it wasn't something Dugal had been completely blind to).

okay i rambled too much... sorry i think way too much about these things...


	19. Heartless

fleets: What do you do when you're bedridden with a cold? Write! Hurrah so here's another update!

* * *

**Chapter 19: Heartless**

Alpha Bates, or the version of Bates that was currently accompanying the Talon mercs, flittered apprehensively around Kestrel's shoulders as they continued to work on delving in to finding magical indexes related to the Air Force Academy. Kestrel was extremely close to connecting all the pieces together, regarding the shard incident that had led to the creation of Talon, the mysterious individual looking for Corbin Robespierre, the links the government had to all of this, and what Vaati and Dugal had to do with the whole picture. The techie's typing came in successive clatters like a clattery drumroll, and as Kestrel muttered excitedly to himself as he came closer and closer to solving the puzzle, Bates hovered over him, wondering when would be a good time to break the news that Dark wasn't coming back.

Bates, whose gaze had been intently on the screen earlier to help Kestrel see all of the magical wards to prevent information access, now found himself looking around as he wondered how to tell the Talon mercs the bad news about Dark's capture. Kestrel noticed that something was wrong immediately when his shared sight, which had previously been fixed on the screen, was now looking left and right and making him quite dizzy. "Is something the matter?"

Bates froze. What should he say? He immediately took the bait, and he scrambled to improvise. _"The… the ocular capacities of my other half has reached zero."_

Kestrel immediately sat up on alert. "What?" Behind him, Hawk looked his way, wondering if there was something wrong.

Bates continued, giving a class act. He wandered around, his wings flapping slowly as though in a paralyzed daze. It helped that he was already slightly on edge to begin with. _"I cannot ascertain what is happening. There are loud vocal exclamations. I believe they have captured D – "_

"They have Darkie," Kestrel interrupted sharply, relaying to Hawk what Bates was saying. As soon as he heard this, Hawk dropped the newspaper he had been reading and his hand flew to the pistol in his jacket.

"How far away?" Hawk asked, making his way for the door.

"_Roughly five miles by the alley just along Mill Road by the Emory Café."_

Bates wasn't really prepared for the following string of quick exchanges that shot back and forth across the room as the two Talon mercs immediately came to life: completely different from how they had been before when they had been waiting for Kestrel to come with a breakthrough.

"Five miles away. Mill Road, alley by Emory Café. You know where that is?"

"I can be there in a few minutes."

"Can you get him?"

"We can't afford information leaks. If I can't get him out of there I'm shooting him down."

"Be careful. We lost intel on what's going on over there so we don't know what we're up against. The bat thing says he can't see anything with the kid anymore."

Bates froze, his wings spread out wide out of shock that he had done something horribly, horribly wrong. _Er… that wasn't how the conversation was supposed to go…_

What Bates had intended to happen was to first let the two Talon mercs know that Dark wasn't coming back, and then have them move to a different location to continue their work as usual. Vaati had made it clear that he didn't want Hawk and Kestrel captured just yet, and his goal had been to capture Dark and Dark only. _Let them try to find weaknesses in Thistle's plan,_ he'd said, without even bothering to explain who or what Thistle was. Vaati had been speaking more to himself than to the sentry at the time. _They'll either succeed and pave the way for my victory, or they'll fail. And I could care less what happens to them if they fail._

Bates needed to convince Hawk not to go out because there was a very real possibility that he would find out that the sentry had delayed the information about Dark's capture to them. Bates needed the two men to trust him… for now. _"I would not recommend pursuit."_

"Hawk, wait."

The blond man, whose expression was usually deceptively pleasant, was ferociously impatient. The contrast was rather frightening. Bates explained as quickly as he could, practically stumbling over his words in his hurry.

"_If they were able to determine Dark's point of existence and nullify my mirror counterpart, they must be individuals with a grasp on the occult. It would be more beneficial for our machinations to retreat for the time being!"_

"And what makes you say that?" Now it was Kestrel's turn to snap impatiently at the sentry, not even bothering to translate for Hawk this time. Hawk was leaning against the door, watching Kestrel intently. "If he blabs then – "

"_If he blabs then what? The fool knows nothing important," _Bates snapped back, this time using the full extent of his almost demonic voice. It came as a deep rumble; an intimidating voice that mirrored Vaati's whenever he was commanding attention. Because Bates was small and actually kind of adorable in appearance, it was easy to forget that he actually _did_ take after Vaati since he had been created by him. It wasn't often that Bates snapped at anyone like this since, as a sentry, his main job was to simply watch things, but when he did he proved to be imposing. Kestrel abruptly fell quiet and leaned back a little from the flying eye. Bates continued, commanding their full attention now. He was no longer nervous, now that he knew they were listening to him. _"You have yet to disseminate what we have discovered over the past few hours. That leaves the idiot knowing what? This hideout? One evacuation is all it takes to amend that. What does he know about your assembly? His knowledge is as abundant as nothing. The gamble is undoubtedly elevated if something occurred to the one with the face of a prepubescent boy,"_

At this Kestrel glanced at Hawk. _That's one way to say baby-face._ He couldn't help but snicker with Bates' description.

"What?" Hawk demanded.

"Nothing."

Bates continued unfazed, "_than if the shadow of the hero was interrogated with minimal results."_

Kestrel looked at Bates for a few minutes chewing on his lip as he thought through what the sentry had said. He propped back his sunglasses on the bridge of his nose as they had fallen down a little, and then he continued to consider Bates' arguments more. After a few seconds, he turned back to Hawk who looked just about ready to bolt out the door. The other man practically twitched as soon as Kestrel glanced at him. "Alright. We're not going after him."

Although there was a surprised curve of the eyebrows followed by a questioning dip, Hawk said nothing. Years of working with Talon taught him that his fellow team could be trusted to make reasonable decisions. It didn't mean they were all yes-men, not at all; only that it was more efficient to trust each other's input. Even though Dugal was the overriding voice for pretty much everything, he'd always listened to his men's opinions especially when they were more informed. The only exception was Condor, who'd been the annoying wedge in the group with all the questions… the only reason they'd kept him around was because he'd still proven to be a great asset.

That is, until he'd turned on them.

Kestrel snapped his computer shut, and did a quick scan through the house to check if there was anything absolutely necessary to bring with him, as well as anything potentially incriminating. Hawk noticed the routine, and joined in. They'd done something like this so many times that no explanation was necessary to get him to move. Bates couldn't help but admire how well coordinated they were: even Master Vaati himself occasionally had trouble getting his minions to understand him correctly when following orders.

"I'll explain why when we move out," Kestrel mentioned.

Hawk nodded understandingly. "How much time?"

"Just to be safe, at least within the next fifteen minutes. We don't know how they managed to track Darkie so quickly, and they might be able to do the same to us."

They did the last of their check to make sure the apartment was safe enough to be abandoned as it were. As Hawk locked the door behind them and Bates obediently flew around to check the premises (even though he knew for sure that no one was going to catch them off guard – Vaati had made sure to that), Kestrel shot a whisper to the other man. Hawk barely caught it, and the way Kestrel's voice shook in anticipation made the hair along his neck rise.

"I was going to tell you when Dark came back. We found him, Hawk. The grandmaster of it all." Kestrel stopped at the bottom of the stairs, staring up at the sky. "The grandmaster of _everything_. Do you get it, Hawk? The one who forced the creation of Talon."

"Isn't that Dugal…?"

"No, he's the one who had Dugal kicked out of the Academy. The one who holds all the answers to all of this magic nonsense. The one who kidnapped Dark and the one who's been pulling the strings of the government itself. The one who's been hunting Corbin Robespierre…" Kestrel gave a small sigh, his breath leaving a small puff of vapor in the cold air. "Hawk?"

Hawk was looking at his partner sternly now, his blue eyes shining with a steely glint. "We're taking him down."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In the basement of the military base, several dozen feet below the island, the usually uninhabited lounge with the lonely bar, unattended to by any bartender, found itself occupied by a disgruntled outsider. Vaati sat in front of the bar with his chin resting on his hands in a bored fashion as he poured himself a drink. He wasn't too into drinking, honestly, but sometimes he felt reckless. He was on the verge of trying to decide whether he should go down the route of 'I don't care anymore' or follow his ego and remain sober for the rest of the afternoon. At the moment he was extremely tempted to just go for it, if it would let him irresponsibly forget about everything even if only for a little while.

It was just as he was contemplating this when Thyme snuck up behind him, taking a seat in another empty stool. She leaned over on the bar table and watched him in a way that was not unlike how cats stare at bad things happening to other people in curious wonderment. "Aren't you underage for that?"

Vaati kept pouring. "I'm the last person on earth who's underage for _anything_," he muttered.

Thyme shrugged. "Suit yourself." She reached over the counter for a bottle and poured a glass of her own. "I don't usually have company here. As long as you don't plan on getting blackout drunk I think we can get along." Here, she gave a quick, stern glance at the sorcerer in a warning. Vaati couldn't blame her: part of him _had_ kind of wanted to black out. He stopped pouring, annoyed and ashamed that he wanted to be self-destructive if only for a moment. He sometimes wished he could stop caring. He changed the subject.

"Back from work?" Vaati noted that she was no longer dressed in the skimpy bathing-suit outfit she'd been wearing by the stripper club and instead wore a black suit that fit a more government-official style.

Thyme nodded. "Sure. I just run the administrative things that the other secretaries don't know about." The woman paused and set down her drink, the tinkle of the glass on the stoneware counter ringing clearly through the air in the vast, empty lounge. "Why did you turn your friend in?"

The corner of Vaati's lip twitched and a faint scowl passed across his face, but he kept his silence.

"It's pretty obvious you're bothered by it."

"He was asking for it," he replied curtly. "It's not like I had much of a choice in any of this anyway. And frankly, I'm not interested in talking to you."

A small smirk appeared on Thyme's lips. She slid a little closer to the sorcerer. "Well I am. You're the only other person besides Thistle who has a real connection to sorcery." Ignoring the concept of personal space, she made sure she wasn't going to be ignored. She leaned in close enough that her breath might catch his hair a little, and laughed playfully when he turned his head around sharply with a scowl. Once she'd caught his attention, she pulled out her staff from behind her back. It was made of blue wood, and it was crooked and gnarled like an ancient root. A large purple-red gem was embedded at the tip where it was curved into a hook. Some beads and feathers attached with strings tinkled as it moved. "Do you know what this staff is?" she asked as she held it out to Vaati. "Thistle called it the Staff of Byrna, and apparently one of your staunch supporters was once its owner."

Vaati laughed bitterly, his scowl disappearing. "Never realized I even had supporters." He leaned forward a little to take a better look at the staff. He forgot his earlier irritation with Thyme butting in on his solo adventure to irresponsible drinking, and was now completely curious with the blue staff. His fingertips tingled a little as he reached close, and he narrowed his eyes; he didn't know if Thyme was aware, but this was an extremely powerful artifact. He didn't like the fact that someone else besides him was in possession of something like it.

Either she was unaware of its full potential, or she simply didn't care: Thyme let Vaati examine it in his hands. "A group of sorceresses. They say her name was Dora. She's also a maiden you once captured, by the way, though I'm not sure why she'd be inclined to help you after you kidnapped her." Thyme continued to look at him with interest, her eyes urging him to share. "Do you remember her?"

Vaati ran his fingers along the diamond-cut gem, and his expression furrowed as he tried to remember. Then, he took another sip of the alcohol and his face softened. "If you've lived for as long as I have, names stop being important," he said, his words following in broken thoughtfulness. "Just events. Maybe faces. Though sometimes it feels like I hadn't actually lived at all…" He handed back the staff somewhat reluctantly as Thyme held out her hand again to put it away behind her. The woman went back to her own glass and put her lips to the edge of the glass, though not taking a single sip.

"Do you… remember Thistle at all? He knows a lot about you, and speaks of you as though you're an old friend."

Vaati took a few minutes, trying to think if he'd ever seen that annoying robe somewhere. Creases lined his forehead as he tried to remember, but try as he might he couldn't come up with anything clear. He thought he could pick out bits and pieces of a light purple wizzrobe laughing at him from atop an enormous sand worm… and had Link been there too? "Maybe. It's vague. If you have a thousand years behind you, how do you remember anything?" He spun around, and leaned back on the bar counter to look at the ceiling. The dimly lit lights illuminated his face softly. "I only remember the ones who kept showing up in my miserable life over and over again." The two fell quiet, one of them unsure of what to say and the other revisiting the past. The only sounds in the overly spacious lounge was the faint sound of footsteps from a different hall far away. "You actually seem to believe all of this," Vaati finally snorted, remembering his initial skepticism a few years ago when the only thing he remembered was his life as Gale Engst. "Most people would either be taking this as a joke by now or would have stood up and left."

At this, Thyme laughed. "I've hung around Thistle long enough to listen to these kinds of things without balking at them."

"Why do you follow him, anyway?"

"Why does anyone follow anybody?" She replied with a snide grin, but Vaati caught a slight edge that suggested this was a somewhat touchy subject. He pressed on anyway.

"Don't you realize he's a monster? He'll flip this world upside down and not care what happens in the aftermath."

"Everyone gets jealous of anyone who's managed to rise up as high as he has. I can understand that," Thyme crossed her arms over her chest, circling her glass with an admonishing air. "But that doesn't mean he's a bad guy. Thistle is pretty harmless as long as you let him do what he wants."

Vaati rolled his eyes. "Which if you think about it applies to any dictator ever."

"Look, what I mean is Thistle has the power to do anything he wants, but he's not really looking for a fight. He hardly ever steps into affairs himself if they don't interfere with anything he wants to do."

"Then how do you explain that mutant Condor and Shadow Hound abomination army?"

Their voices were slightly raised now, but not enough to be noticeable to an outsider. Thyme still spoke in the smooth dark voice, but her tensed shoulders and closed body language betrayed her irritation at the topic at hand. "A contingency. It's there if he needs to keep order of things."

"Thistle… harmless? Ha. Hardly. One day you realize that you can do anything you want, and you stop caring. Things become insignificant." A wide Cheshire smile appeared on Vaati's face and he pushed his glass away, sending it over the countertop with a crackling shatter. Maybe it was the light buzz from the alcohol that made him more talkative than usual. "Have you watched an anthill before? You kill one ant out of curiosity, and then you kill another. Soon you pour water over the mound and watch as hundreds of little ants drown before your feet. I've seen kids do it all the time, and rarely do they show empathy: they're more in awe of their own power over the ant colony. It's become an experiment, and you lose the sense of responsibility of your own actions. That's what Thistle will become. You'll see."

Thyme turned away, back to her drink. "You say that because you don't know him."

"I say that because I know what humans are capable of," Vaati's bitter smile remained, "and monsters more so. What do you know of him, anyway? Are you aware that he's a wizzrobe?"

"He's mentioned before he's some kind of wizard, which I assume is something like yourself."

Vaati's eyebrows shot up and he regarded Thyme for a few seconds in disbelief. Then, he leaned in boldly. "Don't tell me you don't know…"

"What?" Thyme asked, disinterestedly.

"How much has Thistle mentioned monsters to you?"

"Well they're not as interesting as actual sorcery."

"Do you believe in monsters?" the sorcerer pressed.

"I haven't seen one yet."

Vaati let out a low whistle, shaking his head pityingly. "No… no you have. Dear, Thistle is something called a wizzrobe. They're basically empty husks of men whose bodies have been hijacked by a demon." He imparted wryly, "He's not human, sweetheart."

"I don't need you to tell me he's not exactly normal," Thyme replied with a controlled smile.

"I don't think you understand," Vaati tapped a finger on the black bar countertop. "He's not one of us. Do you know what sets monsters apart from the Light dwellers? They don't have a heart."

"Stop calling him a monster!" The smile, which had been more like a sneer, finally broke.

"Let me tell you something that probably never occurred to bird face to tell you." The sorcerer continued in a soft voice. "Affection, altruism, friendship, and love. Those are things humans have because those bonds are usually what's necessary for child-rearing. The species would die without the emotional connection." He scowled now, perhaps recalling something bitter. Those things he'd described were not things he was used to. He wasn't even sure he understood them well himself. "Monsters don't need that. No one has ever seen a mother or father monster. Why? They don't need those things to exist. Where do they come from? No one really knows. The only thing I know from firsthand experience is that the closest thing to affection that they understand is loyalty through respect. That's it." Thyme was looking at him again now, but it was difficult to tell what she was thinking. Vaati wasn't sure if she believed what he was saying, but considering how well she had taken in all of the things he had said earlier, it wasn't unreasonable to think that some of it was getting through. "That's basically what Thistle is. He's incapable of understanding these things, and that's what makes him so terrible. Mark my words, one day he'll destroy everyone who's been loyal to him and he wouldn't even bat an eye. No guilt, no remorse. He'll be unafraid to take things to the point I never took them because he'll feel nothing. I envy that sometimes…" He tilted his head then, when he saw Thyme's eyes narrowed and a frown on her face. It was something he'd noticed before, when he'd first arrived: that hint of a feeling that maybe Thyme wasn't completely with Thistle at all. Or maybe somewhere she suspected that Thistle, despite all of those fun-loving giggles, didn't actually have a heart.

"I have to go." Thyme stood up abruptly then, leaving her glass on the counter. She picked up the mysterious Staff of Byrna, notching it under the crook of her arm, and her black heels clicked away as she walked swiftly to the door.

Vaati looked after the woman with a small smile on his face. It was an evil little smile. "You never answered my question, by the way."

Thyme raised a dismissive hand without looking back. "You should also start working on the hat, by the way."

"The reason why you're helping beak face…" He flipped a few hairs carelessly away from his face. "It's probably not some rational reason you'd think I'd understand."

Thyme kept walking.

"You like him, don't you."

There was a slight stutter to Thyme's walk.

Vaati's evil little smile grew wider, and he tutted with a brief sigh. "I'm telling you dear, he's bad news."

* * *

fleets: I threw in a few references from other stories here, I wonder if you caught them :P - the main one was from Rend, and it was also part of my attempt to explain why Vaati's memory is kind of sucky at the moment: if you have over a thousand years of memories... how do you remember anything? Considering memory is reconstructive, every time you remember something the narrative changes. Sad, but true. (also now that I actually wrote this I REALLY WISH I had taken the time to explore this more in the previous chapters... guess that's what rewrites are for ahahahahaaaaa-not).

The other reference is Dora, the captured maiden and one of Vaati's staunch supporters. :D She hasn't been featured yet in any of the stories so far, but she will be if I ever get to writing the pre-FourSword story featuring all the pretty ladies Vaati had captured (seriously what happened to them. Nintendo never tells).

Also ThistlexThyme. Hush they're my own characters I can do whatever I want with them (shot)

And lastly, another headcanon of mine that was influenced by a quote from (I believe) Link's Awakening. We don't ever, _ever_, see monsters with their babies (or baby monsters roaming around, for that matter), and if we don't, then where do monsters come from? And since they don't seem to require parental care, then it's only natural that they don't need those silly feelings called friendship, and certainly not love. They might be able to pretend they love something, but they'll never feel it because they can't understand it.

Okay I'll stop. HAPPY SUPER BOWL AFTERMATH EVERYONE.

**Lord Siravant: **Sometimes I ask the same question myself... but then I go back to my wonderful outline and am given all the answers to everything (if I ever lose it... I will never be able to finish this story D: )

**SubZeroChimera: **I actually don't think they're useless like Vaati says, but he got the whole shpiel at the end of Unresolved, and I don't think he remembers that too well right now :P

**DarkSakura2256: **Hurray you're done with midterms! And yep! While Bates will listen to Vaati for the most part, he's starting to deviate little by little :3

**Iris Martinez: **I have this idea that when Vaati's extremely angry he goes back to his habits as Gale haha. And no I'll have to check that out sometime (and be prepared with tissues I suppose!) Not much of Dark this time, but he'll come back in the next chapter :) And thank you for being such a loyal following so far! :D I'll try my best to keep it up!

**Sybdoodles: **Thank you! :D As for the question on Bates: Vaati summons different ones each time, but that doesn't mean their personalities were different. They all had the same personality (hence they were all extremely quiet around Vaati since they all believed they were unworthy to speak in his presence - lol he kind of went overboard when he decided his sentries would look up to him like a god). Bates doesn't remember any of the previous sentries' experiences, but because he has some of Vaati's shared knowledge, he does know bits and pieces of past events (but only major ones, like the fact that Link sucks and has a sword that sucks even more, etc. :P )


	20. Defeating Invincibility

fleets: HAI GAIS. Anyone still here? Still remember me? No? That's okay, because we're almost done kinda-sorta! We're nearing the last chapter, slowly (excruciatingly slowly: I'm so sorryyyy) and I honestly can't wait to get there. I've been thinking about the last chapter since chapter 1! Anyways, sorry it's been so long since an update and I hope you can still enjoy this if you're still here!

I'm tired, hence I'm hyper, and therefore I have not proofread this. This is probably a bad idea, but to Subrosia with it I'm going to submit it KTHANKS

* * *

**Chapter 20: Defeating Invincibility**

Dark's nose wiggled as that tiny itch that sometimes accompanies waking up crawled along his nose. He stretched his hand from under his pillow, soft, but one of those cheap hotel pillows, and slowly rolled over on his bed. He stared at the ceiling for a few minutes, looking at the grey uninteresting slab up above. Where was he? He was pretty darn confused, and the last thing he remembered was… well dang, what _was_ the last thing he remembered?

Before attempting to jog his head on what he could and couldn't remember, Dark took a better look at his surroundings. He wasn't really sure what time of day it was, considering there was no natural light anywhere, except for a screen on one wall with artificial scenery that, upon closer inspection, appeared to change in brightness depending on the hour. It suggested he was probably in a place, maybe even underground, where natural light wasn't readily available… either that, or they wanted their tenants to go crazy from being shut out from the sun. He was in some kind of cell, in a basic rectangular room just large enough to fit about a bed and a half. Furnishings were minimal, and besides the bed there was a concrete stool and desk that was a part of the floor and walls and therefore unmovable, a metal toilet and sink unit opposite the bed, a flatscreen T.V. mounted on one of the walls and something that appeared to be a timed shower of sorts. Maybe it could have been "cozy," but that big metal door locked with heavy-duty high security bolts on one wall kind of ruined that. There were also double-barred windows that let him see outside the room, which wasn't that great of a view considering all he could see was the plain white wall of a hallway.

Despite all of this, he couldn't feel any kind of worry at all. Even more surprisingly, he felt calm, as though this wasn't the first time he had woken up to this scene (even though he could have sworn he'd never seen any of this before). Dark wondered briefly if he'd been drugged, since he couldn't really remember where he was or what he'd been doing. He sat up from the bed and looked down. He sighed. Even his own clothes had changed, and he didn't even remember where he'd gotten them. Instead of his old outfit, with his baggy buckled pants and red shirt with the black vest, he was wearing a simple black t-shirt with a white label that cheekily read "A Captive Audience," and plain blue jeans.

Dark stared at the white label flatly. Then, his hand shot to his pockets when he realized he might not have Bates' stone anymore. As his fingers clawed at the inside of his pockets, they caught the cool smooth surface of the small stone. He sighed in relief, and then briefly wondered why the people who had left him here had allowed him to keep it.

All right, time to find out what the hell happened.

"Bates."

He looked around, and eventually found the sentry sitting on the corner of the bed with his wings curled over himself. His eye peeked over his leathery wings at the sound of his name.

"Tell me what happened," Dark moved over to sit on the other side of the bed, facing the bat eye. He immediately knew something was wrong when Bates turned slightly away, guiltily.

"_The same queries every instance…"_ the sentry let out a small, audible puff of air. The comment caught Dark off guard, and the feeling that he was missing something increased.

"What do you mean?"

"_Ah, again the same concerns."_

"Bates, I need to know!"

Bates fidgeted, and remained curled up in a ball in the corner. "_Lord Vaati ensured that you would remain asunder from deleterious misfortune."_

Dark stared at the sentry blankly, and it took him a few moments to understand what Bates was saying. Then he realized that the sentry was telling him Vaati wanted to keep him safe. More than just slightly annoyed, Dark waved his arms at the barred windows of the cell. "And his idea is to lock me up, is it?"

"_To be fair, it is common proceedings to stockade those who are deemed threatening to their own persons," _Bates muttered.

Dark wasn't convinced. "Right, because I obviously have some kind of psychiatric problem." He crossed his arms, and in a stern tone pressed the sentry for more. Besides the fact that he now found himself locked up in a cell somewhere he didn't recognize, there was something even more off-putting about this situation. He couldn't put his finger on it; he felt that he should feel much more anxious than he was at the moment, but a small feeble voice in his head was telling him he'd been here before.

For several days at least.

"Bates," he shot a searching gaze towards the reluctant sentry, "what did you mean earlier, when you said I'd asked you the same question before?"

Bates tiredly flapped his wings and he fluttered over to the wall by the head of the bed, where there were several notches carved into the wall. It seemed like something a castaway would do, carving notches on the side of a tree to keep track of the number of days they'd been stranded on an island. Dark counted 14 ticks on the wall. "_You have been here for 14 days. The reason you have no memories of your residency is because Lord Vaati visits twice a week to wipe away what you may remember. This is the fourth time you have asked me the same inquiries_."

"What?_!_" Dark exclaimed, shooting up from the bed and standing up to confront Bates.

It took several minutes for the sentry to calm Dark down, and Bates sat him down in a well-rehearsed manner as though this wasn't the first time he'd had to do this. Before long, Bates was describing how Lord Vaati was working on plans much bigger than either of them could comprehend, and that the trajectory that Dark, Hawk, and Kestrel were moving towards would inevitably lead to the upset of his plans. Lord Vaati hadn't disclosed much to Bates, as he was but a lowly sentry, but from what Bates could gather his master was collaborating with another powerful individual who may not be as forgiving towards Dark as he. This was the rationale, Bates tried to explain, on why Vaati had locked them up. Hawk and Kestrel had been spared because his master didn't care whether or not they were harmed, and also because Vaati was curious about the progress on their findings.

The whole time Bates gave his heartfelt explanation on the situation, Dark kept an expressionless face, taking in every word with his full attention. He watched as the little sentry flapped its wings earnestly as he described how Lord Vaati was only looking out for their best interests, and that when all was said and done his master was going to reach even higher levels of greatness. It was so heartfelt that Dark almost felt sorry for the eye-bat creature. The teen could see that, blinded by his master's greatness, Bates was incapable of seeing Vaati in serious shit as he undoubtedly was in right now. Bates had Vaati up on a pedestal so high that the fact that maybe, _just maybe_, Vaati had completely lost control of the situation, was an idea that the sentry couldn't consider.

Dark, however, was beginning to understand the kind of trouble Vaati was in. He could facepalm all day long just thinking about what Vaati had done. And while yes, he was extremely upset about how Vaati had handled the situation (i.e. locking him up), at the same time he could see where he was coming from. Of course, he didn't know the whole situation, but he could at least piece together that Vaati's intentions had been to keep him somewhere where Vaati could keep an eye on him, and at least make sure that whoever had Vaati under a tight leash wouldn't decide to kill him or something. Being the victim of the mess, Dark thought it was an incredibly stupid decision, but after his interaction with Zelda earlier, thinking about how reluctant he had been to trust his friends that they could help him, he could understand Vaati.

Even though he was still incredibly upset at him.

The memory wipes, too, had apparently been done with Dark's interests in mind, according to Bates, and they weren't part of some insidious plan at all. In fact, Vaati had taken it upon himself to completely wipe Dark's memory of his stay twice a week to help keep Dark from going insane from extended solitary confinement: if Dark didn't remember his stay then it wouldn't feel like he'd been here for weeks on end.

"So you see," Bates ended softly, "Lord Vaati has our good fortune in mind." All this time he hadn't even thrown a single insult towards Dark; it was different from his usual way of peppering his conversations with a few jabs at the teen.

Dark eyed the sentry carefully, and couldn't help but feel some pity to the creature for what he was about to do. He sighed, wondering how he could make the process as painless as possible. Dark was going to shatter Vaati's image a little, and for someone who had placed the sorcerer on such a high pedestal this was undoubtedly going to be a difficult pill to swallow. Dark asked slowly, "Do you actually believe that?"

Bates looked up, and tipped a little on his side questioningly.

"Do you actually, really believe that? You think Vaati has our interests in mind?" Dark asked again.

If Bates had a mouth to frown with, he would have. Instead, his voice had a slight edge of offence. "_Of course."_

"Then why," Dark continued in his slow, deliberate tone, "would he keep us trapped down here for so long?"

Bates eyelid twisted into a scowling squint, and he replied immediately. "_Because it is the most optimum procedure – _"

"But _why?"_

"_Because it's… because…"_ Bates faltered, then he fluttered right up to Dark's stern face in frustration, "Well why would Lord Vaati go through the trouble of emptying your skull of memories so recurrently if he did not have our interests in mind, hmm? Why would he waste his seconds on an imbecile like you?"

A sneer passed along Dark's lips. "Exactly."

Bates backed away in surprise and confusion. His wings flapped slowly as he did a small, puzzled circle in the air and gradually floated down on Dark's lap. "_What is your dot?"_

"My dot, Bates, is that your master is not exactly in control of the situation." The two were quiet for a bit, and Dark watched Bates struggle with this idea. The little sentry averted his gaze and the corners of his eye twitched ever so slightly. Dark continued, a little more gently now. "Remember that conversation Vaati and I had right before I was caught? He's working with the government, Bates, and from what I know about him so far I don't peg him as the type to work with people if he could help it. Why leave Hawk and Kestrel alone if he didn't think that maybe, just maybe, they would turn into some kind of ace which he could use to his advantage against this powerful individual you mentioned? Something tells me that he isn't exactly working with the government because he really wants to."

Bates had squirmed around in place so that his back was now to Dark. The sentry's eyes wandered searchingly, trying to come up with a counterargument. There was no way his master wasn't in control of the situation! Lord Vaati is the greatest of them all. He is always in control. He always knows what he's doing. What the foolish hero lookalike was suggesting was… was… inconceivable! It almost sounded as though the fool was suggesting that… that Lord Vaati was actually in trouble! That someone out there had outsmarted him!

"_R-ridiculous," _Bates finally muttered, still in denial. However, he didn't sound very sure of himself.

"No one is invincible, Bates."

"_Lord Vaati knows… knows what he's doing."_

"Then tell me how this," Dark waved his hand towards the bolted door, "indicates he knows what he's doing."

"_His grand designs are not something irrelevant servants can comprehend with our miniscule reasoni – "_

"There are only two reasons for locking us up here, Bates! It's because your master fucked up or because he doesn't care about either of us anymore!" Dark snapped. He felt a twinge of guilt from the harsh words, but they had to be said.

"_N-no. NO!"_ Bates angrily yelled back. He shot right up to Dark, eye to eye, and for a moment it looked as though the sentry was going to hurt him. Then, the eye bat stopped abruptly in the air, and Bates' eye widened in a stricken daze. "_No…"_ he repeated, much more quietly.

His voice cracked. Bates shot back away from Dark and suddenly began to fly in frenzied circles around the room. "_WE MUST ASSIST LORD VAATI!"_ The sentry gave a terrified wail as he zipped around the room, through the walls, the floor, and the ceiling in chaotic fluttering.

Dark, who had expected this outburst, was standing in the middle of the room. He took a deep breath, and barked sharply "_Stop."_

Bates froze mid-flap at the commanding voice, and he turned to the teen, still panic-stricken.

Dark knelt down to where the sentry had floated down by his feet, and gently extended his hand. "Stop. Everything's going to be okay," he repeated gently. "We're going to take this one step at a time, alright? Let's first figure out what we can do."

Bates still had his eye open wide, but it was no longer panicked. It was still bewildered, but he seemed to have calmed down with Dark's assertiveness.

"Are you still with me? We're not going to do anything rash, okay?"

Bates stared at Dark for a bit longer. The sentry usually didn't like people other than Lord Vaati ordering him about; he was Lord Vaati's servant and no one else's. Dark was ordering him around now, but for some reason, he didn't resent it. Right now there was so much uncertainty and chaos that Dark's words were… kind of comforting. Bates tucked his wings against his sides and gave a slow nod.

"Good," Dark smiled, relieved that he'd gotten through to the sentry. "Now I'm going to give you two tasks. The first thing I want you to do is to debrief me on everything whenever my memory is wiped out. I need to know everything that's been going on for our plan to work. Can you do that? I know I can't promise that I won't be difficult, because I probably will be," Dark admitted sheepishly, "but for this to work I need to know everything we've talked about today."

"_I promise you," _Bates assured.

"The second task," Dark explained, "is going to be extremely important, and something only you can do. You said Vaati allowed Hawk and Kestrel to continue their work. Bates, are you still able to see what they are up to and communicate with them?"

"_Yes."_

Dark's face lit up in hope. "Then help them. I have a suspicion that Vaati is counting on them to start an upset here. Tell them everything they need to know about this facility to do… something. I need… no… _we all_ need you to snoop around and figure out the secrets of this place, and keep Hawk and Kestrel as informed as possible."

Bates nodded eagerly, and the sentry flew up in the air with much more energy than before; filled with purpose. This was, indeed, a job only he could do. It was a job that would help Lord Vaati, and it was a job that no one else could accomplish. "_I will begin now."_ How proud Lord Vaati would be when he informed him!

"Just… don't tell Vaati what we're up to," Dark stopped the sentry. At this, Bates sagged disappointedly.

"_Why not?"_

"Do you actually think Vaati's pride would let him accept help so easily?" Dark arched a quizzical eyebrow. "He also might be under strict watch, and he might be forced to stop us if they find out about what we're doing. No, don't tell him," Dark shook his head, "but if he asks about it… then you don't have to lie."

If Bates could have smiled, he would have given a small, grateful one. Instead, he gave another small nod. He was about to fly off again, but just before he slipped through the wall, Bates timidly turned around, his wings twitching slightly in the equivalent of a human fidget. "_Er… imbecile I have a query." _He slipped partly into the wall so only half of him was visible. It reminded Dark of a little kid peeking around a corner to see if his parents were still mad at him. "_Do you resent me for assisting Lord Vaati in entrapping you here?"_

Dark bit his bottom lip in thought for a few seconds, and then an evil little smirk appeared on his face. Eyes narrowed, he stalked over, leaning forward with his hands in his pockets, all the while appearing to decide how to terrify Bates. Feeling guilty and now somewhat scared by the way Dark was looking at him like a bad cop with all of the incriminating evidence, Bates inched closer into the wall. Finally, Dark threw his head back, laughing loudly.

"Ahahaha! Of course not! I don't hold grudges for something insignificant like that. Who do you think I am, _Lord_ Vaati?" Dark grinned. "Cheer up, buddy. We still might have the upper hand yet, right? We're going to strike them from inside out, all thanks to you. So get going. You'll be the greatest spy in all history."

Bates laughed bashfully, his chuckles as barely audible squeaks. Embarrassed from the kind words, he flew quickly away from the prison cell. Dark was right, he was different from Lord Vaati. Different usually meant bad… but Bates didn't think Dark was bad at all. Lord Vaati was someone Bates could never hope to approach: the sorcerer was incomprehensibly great, and the sentry would never be so worthy as to take up his time. Dark, on the other hand…

Dark was a friend. His first friend in his entire existence. Someone he could talk to, count on, argue with and laugh with.

And that wasn't a bad thing at all.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The usually lonely bar in the vast underground facility was once again not-so-lonely. Lately there was a frequent visitor there, and even if they didn't take a single drink and only sat there to stare miserably at cup filled with whatever was on tap, the visitor almost never failed to show up. If there had been a bartender perhaps the guest would have vented his troubles, but there was no bartender.

Which wasn't a huge problem for Vaati, really. He was used to moping about by himself, venting at the nearest inanimate object. Or maybe 'venting' wasn't exactly the right word. 'Venting' suggested he was actually talking out loud about his life issues, and he rarely spoke out loud. A mutter here, a mutter there, but not really out-loud in-your-face venting. 'Corroding' might have been a better word for it, as he silently ate himself up with singing self-hatred; not exactly burning because there was no fire to his musings, but more like a slothful poison that gradually melted his soul.

He hated everything right now. Absolutely everything. He hadn't felt so lost about… EVERYTHING in ages. Din, he couldn't really remember a time when he'd felt as lost as he did now. Whenever things went wrong, he'd still have some kind of control over the situation. Even when his relationship with Ezlo had become irreparably damaged, he'd had control because he _knew_ he had something to look forward to, something to turn him into the most invincible being in existence.

The Wishing Cap had given him control then, but now… but now that same cap was only giving him doubt and unease.

Vaati pushed the glass away from him and flopped over the counter, a dead fog glazed over his eyes. He was so close to the point of not caring anymore. He hated to admit it, but Thistle had cornered him, and everything was so polished that Vaati couldn't think of any cracks in the system he could exploit against the wizzrobe. It seemed almost inevitable that Thistle would end up having the Wishing Cap for himself, and then becoming _truly _invincible.

_I was invincible once, but then some kid took that illusion and smashed it to pieces, didn't he?_ A small voice in his head chided.

Defeatist Vaati ignored the voice. That hadn't been invincibility, anyway. He'd made a dumb wish, not well calculated and full of weaknesses which led to his defeat. "Greatest Sorcerer in the World" didn't mean anything if there could be greater things out there to defeat said sorcerer, like a sword-weilding child with divine blessing.

_And what if that wizzrobe doesn't wish for invincibility? What if he makes an incredibly stupid wish?_

Defeatist Vaati snorted. _While I wouldn't put it past him to make a stupid wish,_ he thought as he imagined Thistle wishing for something like an island made of ice cream, _it would only be to spite me. To flip his finger at the object that made me what I am today, to spit on it and wave it in my face tauntingly. No, he won't do that. He acts silly, but that doesn't mean he's stupid. If it comes down to it, he will make a wish that will make him impossible to defeat._

Still with his head against the counter, Vaati pushed aside his drink that was still mostly full off to the side. All the other nights he'd come to the bar he'd done pretty much the same thing, and every night he'd found the glass to be cleaned and put back to its usual spot in the cabinets. Magic, Vaati guessed. If you were a competent enough sorcerer you didn't need butlers or maids anymore to clean the most spacious mansions. The thought reminded him of Thistle, and it upset him every time.

The thing that upset him the most, however, was the whole situation with Dark. It's not like he cared about that kid or anything, he was just as stupid as the real Link, or Links or whatever. Always meddling and getting himself into trouble. In a way he deserved it.

But at the same time, he didn't deserve this. This was his fault… he'd gotten arrogant, and had underestimated the twenty-first century. It was his fault that Dark was now in solitary confinement, and solitary confinement was something Vaati could relate to painfully well. The long years he had been trapped in the Four Sword had been excruciating, and he didn't doubt that he'd suffered some kind of mental damage from that experience. He didn't remember much about it, except the screams of rage, the soul wrenching wails of frustration and agony, the pointless hysterical laughing, and the waiting. Oh goddesses, the waiting. It had been an obsessive waiting, where every shift in the seal that held him, the faint whispers of the maidens who occasionally visited his temple to renew the seal, all of those little sounds and movements kept him at an interminable tension.

No, Dark didn't deserve that. Dark didn't deserve this. So the only thing Vaati could think of was to have the dark haired teen forget his experience of being locked up in a sunless room so it wouldn't feel as long. It hurt Vaati's pride at the same time, however, because the idea of wiping memories had come directly from the way Thistle kept his underlings from getting out of control. During the past week, Vaati had been thinking about his plan to take over Hyrule, and he'd come to the disappointing conclusion that he hadn't put any real thought into what he was actually going to _do_ after he'd succeeded.

In short, it was only now, thousands and thousands and thousands of years later that he was beginning to realize how stupid everything had all been.

Which brings us back to the point on why he hated absolutely everything right now.

He'd never really considered the nuisances required to keep the population under control, and with every passing minute he was becoming increasingly disillusioned by how much effort and bookkeeping was required to rule over a region. He felt lazy just thinking about all the people Thistle must be keeping track of, and making sure the right people were being brainwashed, mind-wiped, or outright eliminated to stay in control. And the only reason Thistle didn't seem to have too much trouble with this, Vaati thought, was because unlike Vaati, Thistle wasn't particularly interested in letting every living thing know who the kingpin was. Thistle was content to just do his own thing out of sight, which was crucial to control an entire country while letting the country think that it still had control over itself.

That wasn't what Vaati wanted. He wanted everyone to acknowledge who he was.

That also meant he'd probably have an entire day to rule the world _if he was lucky_, and then afterwards be forced to burn everything down to keep everyone 'calm' (i.e. lying face-down on the earth, possibly turned to stone, most likely dead). Terrorizing, he was fine with. Ruling over a bunch of dead people? That was not okay.

And even then that was assuming he'd have the upper hand against all of the stupid-powerful weapons in this day and age. Obviously he couldn't live his life with his guard up 24-7, and it was going to take all but one skilled sniper to shoot him in the head when he was asleep to end his miserable life. Or atomic bombs? Even if he could survive the detonation, he definitely wouldn't survive the long-term aftereffects of radiation poisoning. Nothing like that had existed when he had reigned as supreme sorcerer, so he hadn't even considered a spell to counteract something like that. The direct approach he usually took wasn't going to work here, and when it came down to the indirect approach, Thistle was so much more a veteran than he was.

As Vaati continued to depressingly mope about by himself at the lonely bar, he heard faint footsteps climbing up the stairs to the bar slowly. He barely brought his head up, but perked his ears to the sound. Was it Thyme? She hadn't come to the bar since he'd asked her if she liked Thistle.

The person who'd climbed the stairs wasn't a woman, but a man. To Vaati's surprise, Dugal walked into view. He had one hand propped behind his back, while the other, the prosthetic, held the Phantom Hourglass which was now full of glittering gold sand.

Dugal wordlessly walked over, set the hourglass down in front of Vaati with an unceremonious clunk, and then plopped down on the empty barstool next to him with a bored, don't-give-a-flipping-dolphin-flip look on his face. Vaati sat up straight, and then peered carefully at the Phantom Hourglass. The sand was completely full, and the tiny grains, each a miniscule golden triangle, glimmered through the glass that contained it.

"That was fast," Vaati mentioned skeptically over to the ex-Talon leader who was now pouring himself Scotch. "I didn't see anything in the news about a massacre," he pointed at the hourglass full of sand. Vaati had expected the other man to have to kill at least twenty people to collect enough sand for his project, and he couldn't help but wonder how Dugal had accomplished this in a mere two weeks without a news agency covering the story of a trail of twenty dead bodies.

"You might," Dugal drawled, "see something in the news about two whaling ships going down."

Vaati shook the hourglass, letting the sand tinkle against the glass, and then set it down on the counter again. "Ah. Whales? They gave you that much life force, huh?"

"I joined some black market whalers for a few trips, and then sunk them with their ships to collect the rest."

"Hm. I see." Vaati rested his chin on his hand thoughtfully. Having this crucial piece, the collection of Life Force from the Phantom Hourglass, meant that he was going to be able to move on to the finishing pieces of the Wishing Cap. He was really going to make the cap. He was really going to do it, for the better or for worse…

The two former enemies turned allies turned questionable partners sat quietly for a while; Vaati with disinterested attention at the hourglass while Dugal absentmindedly swirled his glass so that the ice cubes tinkled. The man downed the Scotch, and then waved a hand towards the hourglass standing upright on the middle of the counter.

"So what is the Wishing Cap, exactly?" he asked.

Vaati stirred, and then shrugged. "Exactly what it sounds like. It grants wishes."

"Any wish?"

"Any wish." Vaati nodded.

"Sounds dangerous," Dugal sniffed, smiling unpleasantly. "What's your story with it, if you don't mind me asking?"

Vaati didn't say anything at first, wondering if he should even bother explaining. However, concluding he didn't really care anymore, decided to tell the other man his story. "It has everything to do with me, actually," the sorcerer began slowly. "My mentor, the one who taught me about sorcery, was the one who originally created it. Then I stole the hat to become the greatest sorcerer in the world, turned him into a hat, and then murdered everyone in the village."

"I killed my own father."

"What, are we going to have a 'Who's the more horrible killer' contest now?" Vaati shot sourly.

Dugal chuckled. "No need for that. No, Mr. Engst, I'm just acknowledging the fact that we all have reasons for our actions. I'm not saying our reasons excuse our actions, but that the events that led up to our actions are not as simple as they seem."

"I went to the castle," Vaati continued, more to himself now. "I wanted more. The cap turned me into the greatest sorcerer alive, but I wanted to take what was precious to them and rub dirt all over it. I wanted the Light Force, said to be from the goddesses themselves. I wanted to take that power and become a god using their precious goddesses' own power. I… didn't succeed. I could have stopped, but I kept going and paid for it with my carelessness." He thought to himself some more, and then turned to Dugal abruptly.

"Do you regret killing?"

"Do you?" Dugal replied smoothly.

They were quiet again. The ex-Talon leader sighed, swung around on his seat and leaned back against the counter. "Regret… no Mr. Engst. Because as soon as you begin to think with those kinds of words you destroy yourself. Regret, remorse, they say they are the way to salvation, but we're already monsters ourselves, and to seek salvation is to only destroy who we already are. I rid the world of a blight when I disposed of my father and gained a sizeable inheritance in return – that's all there is to it. Regret? That's only something for a man only looking at his past. The past is where men lose themselves. The future is the only thing that matters."

Vaati mulled over what the ex-Talon leader had said. The past… yes, he knew all too well how much mental anguish he experienced whenever he thought too much about the past. These days, too, it was combined with the confusion of sifting through eight thousand years' worth of memories, most of it from the time when he hadn't known about his own history as the Sorcerer of Winds. All of the joys and pains that came with a lifetime added up to become a schizophrenic experience, and he didn't really enjoy taking a trip down the memory lane. He'd tried remembering historical details out of curiosity, like trying to figure out how magic had become obsolete, but the only thing he could kind of recall was something about a great flood followed by… well… the pain of dying. Apparently he hadn't survived that encounter with the flood. He'd been confused at first, why he couldn't remember particular details, until he realized he hadn't lived very long lives in each lifetime. It had been such a depressing detail that he'd stopped trying to remember things.

Dugal leaned forward now, his left hand on his knee and his right tapping the counter in a matter-of-fact fashion. His eyes glinted behind his glasses. "Now that I know just what, exactly, that cap does, Mr. Engst, I'm going to give you a bit of advice. While I did do my part and collect the sand in the hourglass, I'll say this right now: I don't think you should complete the cap."

Vaati stared at the ex-Talon leader in surprise, and then confusion. His mouth twisted into a frown as he tried to figure out what the other man was saying. "But… that means you'll die? Like pretty soon?" A part of him suspected the sly man to have some kind of trick, but the more he searched the other man's face the more convinced he became that Halstead Dugal was seriously suggesting that Vaati discontinue the work on the cap in exchange for his life.

"Do you actually think," Dugal sneered, "that crazy man would uphold his promise to return my lost time?"

"Not really," Vaati admitted, also remembering Thyme repeatedly assuring him that Thistle was the worst with lies. "But what then? We don't complete the cap, but that wizzrobe still has the upper hand."

"Hmph," Dugal huffed. "I thought you'd at least like to see that bird's face when he finds out he can't get what he wants."

Yes, that would be nice, Vaati thought to himself. But…

"The cap means the end," Vaati said softly, "It's the thing that will make it impossible for us to win, but at the same time it's also the only thing that can put an end to the madness. We can win if we take it."

"And how will you ensure that the bird won't take it?" Dugal asked cynically.

Vaati bit the inside of his cheek. That _was_ the big question, wasn't it? "I don't know," he finally replied, "but it's the only way." He said the last part with finality, and faced the other man challengingly. Dugal looked at him flatly, and then caved, leaning back again with a shrug.

The Sorcerer of Winds took a deep breath. He chuckled, the corners of his lips twisted crookedly into a sad, bitter grin. "I think I know what Link might have faced," he whispered to himself, "Even though I hate the analogy, that kid never gave up even when everything seemed hopeless…"

* * *

fleets: Bates breaks my heart, he really does. He surprises me every time I write him. Actually this whole chapter kind of broke my heart while I was writing it. Funny thing though, I can't even put a finger on why. I'm probably listening to too much sad music. Yeah.

But what oh what will the final wish be? Will someone wish for immortality? End of the World? Be the Greatererest Sorcerer Ever? Be Better at Vaati in Everything? Be the Next Pokemon Master? Wish for an Island made of Icecream? So many possibilities! (shot)

Cookie for anyone who gets it right (but seriously I won't tell you for a few more chapters yet so sit tight. Disclaimer: these cookies ain't real).

**Anonymous: **The mysterious Anon! Hello! You have described Thistle so well I can't even... you summarized him better than I could have done and that makes me so happy :D :D :D You're completely right. Thistle as he is now really doesn't want to stir things up for the sake of stirring things up. He's having plenty of fun just doing his own thing, and like he mentioned a few chapters ago, the only times he really does that whole brainwashing trick is when he needs a certain policy passed, have some legal issues solved, etc. so he can keep doing whatever he wants to do. If people find out about him, then he'll face a really annoying situation that he won't want to deal with. Basically, he's largely harmless _if_ you stay out of his way.

The only caveat is he still has a sense of competition with anything remotely magical (i.e. Vaati) and won't hesitate to get rid of that competition UNLESS there's something in it for him, like the Wishing Cap. If you're an average pizza man living in an average town, you're probably okay.

As for the thing with Thyme, yah that'll come back ;)

Hmm isn't that weird, that Thistle's pursuing all of that about Corbin Robespierre? Doesn't match up with what wizzrobes supposedly do, does it? :P :P :P

Thanks for the review, mysterious Anon! You're really on the dot with your ideas/summaries, I'm pretty darn shocked (in a good way)! Hope you get all the answers by the time the story finishes! (HUGTASTIC HUGFEST FOR U)

**Reily96: **ThistlexThyme is my not-so-secret-anymore favorite OC pairing. Because it's my only OC pairing AHAHA. Ehrm, anyway, yeah like I said before it won't be fluffy. I can't really see fluffy between those two, and considering what I just said last chapter about monsters and what-not, yeah that would be pretty nonsensical. Even the existence of TxT is kind of weird, given my explanation, but whatever. It makes sense in my ridiculous head :D

The monster thing would come back again. Before the story ends the issue will come up again definitely.

And Vaati doesn't even have to try to be hot. Ok, well, I guess I can come up with story plots that will make him less hot, but it'll be a challenge (and why would I do that). XD

**Iris Martinez: **And we're back to Dark this time! Yep, Vaati does switch to Gale occasionally. It'd be difficult to dissociate himself from his most recent personality so quickly :) And yep! ThistlexThyme is not exactly a happy fluffy ship (more like a reluctant one that can't even sail from the harbor). I'll sneak it in though, and when I do it'll be obvious (I think). Hmmm, I really wish I could draw it on deviantart. I haven't really had the time to do much drawing lately... but I really wish I could get back to it :(

**DarkSakura2256: **Aw, thanks! I'm always (pleasantly) surprised whenever someone says they like my OCs :D (hugs!) Sometimes I wonder why people read about OCs when they're on a fanfiction website 'cause I figured they'd come here for the canon characters...  
Lol yep, Vaati and alcohol, he says things he shouldn't sometimes XD  
And yes! My favorite pairing because I can do whatever I want with it wahaha! It's an odd one though, I admit. It won't be super obvious for a while, if ever.

**Sybdoodles: **If I was Thyme's real life friend, I would advise her to stay faaar faaaaaar away from Thistle. Far. Away. Unfortunately I can give no such advice and my evil author fingers will continue to type the story as planned. Thyme, I am sorry.  
Yes! The Talon guys are going for the chase and little Bates might be able to help. Of course I won't make it easy, but it's good karma to give hopeless characters some hope, ey? :P


	21. Be Ready

fleets: I felt bad about my long absence, and I actually had some time so I managed to write another update chapter. Hope you don't mind :P

I couldn't think of a good chapter title, so I just decided with the first thing that came to mind as my message for you all: be ready! Things have been moving kind of slow these last few chapters, but all of that is about to change ;)

* * *

**Chapter 21: Be Ready**

"_Dear, Thistle is something called a wizzrobe. They're basically empty husks of men whose bodies have been hijacked by a demon."_

_So what?_ Thyme thought angrily to herself, Vaati's voice rang in her head mockingly for the hundredth time. That kid did have a perpetually mocking attitude, and although she'd thought it was kind of adorable at first when she'd first met them in person, it was becoming to grate on her nerves. It had been a little less than a month since she'd had that conversation with the sorcerer, and it was still bothering her.

"_He's not human, sweetheart."_

_So what?_! She repeated again at the phantom voice. It wasn't as though that fact would change anything. So she was suddenly going to stop caring about him because someone told her he was a monster of sorts? It's not like he's evil or anything!

"_Mark my words, one day he'll destroy everyone who's been loyal to him and he wouldn't even bat an eye. No guilt, no remorse. He'll be unafraid to take things to the point I never took them because he'll feel nothing."_

_But that still doesn't mean he's evil! He just doesn't… understand these things. That makes him no different than a child who hasn't yet grasped the concept of morality, and that isn't the same as evil. Besides, why should I even believe that little brat? _

Thyme exited the cab that dropped her off by the fortune shop and stormed angrily to the door. Wads of mail were lolling out of the mailbox like a white paper tongue, and she snatched it out with more force than necessary. Thistle hadn't been checking the mail again.

As always.

She was so irritated at him right now. Sure, she was always mildly irritated by Thistle, but today she was exceptionally irritated. She would have chewed him out for leaving the mail so irresponsibly stuffed in the mailbox. Again.

She was annoyed he was always joking about everything. She was annoyed he was so careless about the mail. She was annoyed his place was always a mess. She would have found every little thing he did to be annoying, but what she was annoyed about the most was the fact that he hadn't told her anything about what Vaati had said.

Of course it probably hadn't occurred to him to tell her, but _still_. She was annoyed because she was allowed to be annoyed goddesses damn it. Especially since this little fact had been eating her up for almost a month now.

Thyme knocked on the door loudly. "Open the door, Thistle."

Usually, Thistle would have delayed opening the door out of amusement, but this time, perhaps because of how serious Thyme sounded, the door clicked open immediately. "Uh, yes?"

The woman pushed past Thistle, moving his beak aside on the way, and sat herself down on one of the filing cabinets while tossing the wad of mail across the desk. She ignored Thistle appearing upset over the domino blocks he'd been working on that had been knocked over from the flying mail. "Thistle, we need to talk."

"What? Thyme, dear, don't tell me you're breaking up with me?" Thistle exclaimed. He then rushed over to the desk to clean up the dominoes.

"Thistle," Thyme said flatly, "we're not even in a relationship."

"It just seemed like the appropriate thing to respond with," Thistle shrugged.

"See, this is why… ugh never mind," Thyme muttered. She watched the wizzrobe push the fallen domino blocks off the desk and into a cardboard box, and then gripe about the rest that were still balanced up along the shelves in a complicated path.

Thyme opened her mouth again to say something, and then stopped, taking back the words before she said them. There were things she wanted to ask Thistle, but where to start without being… insensitive? Was that the right word? She wasn't even sure since she couldn't imagine Thistle even caring about insensitive questions, but still. Her voice was caught in her throat as she struggled to figure out how to even start the conversation she wanted to have.

"You said you wanted to talk but you haven't talked much, Thyme dear," Thistle waved over his shoulder as he finally decided to push the remaining dominoes down. They clattered along their path until the last one plunked against a wooden ball that rolled over to ring a bell.

"I just…" Thyme began to doubt her question even before she asked it, as she watched the wizzrobe nod satisfactorily that half the dominoes had worked perfectly. "Thistle, is it true you're a monster?" The question seemed so silly now that she was looking at Thistle again; he seemed so harmless when he was so absorbed by domino blocks.

Thistle whirled around. "Huh?" Then, he burst out laughing. "Kehahaha! What an accusation! Am I really that terrible?"

Thyme's fists clenched as Thistle continued to have a giggle-fit. "I don't mean it like that. I mean… are you really not human?"

"You can say I'm superhuman. Kehahaha!"

"No I mean… like actually not human." Thyme repeated. Her tone was heavy, almost leaden, with gravity; so much so that Thistle actually stopped laughing and seemed to take her words seriously. He set aside the box of dominoes and leaned against the shelves along the wall, and gave her a curious look. 'Go on,' it seemed to say, but he remained completely quiet and didn't seem all that willing to give her a straight answer. Not that he ever gave anyone a straight answer. Thyme, feeling increasingly uncomfortable with the question, gave up with a small smile. "Ha. Actually I don't know why I even need to ask that. Who cares what you are?"

"I sure care," Thistle followed somewhat cheekily. Then, he turned around so that his back was to her and he appeared to suddenly take an interest in the faint film of dust that had collected on the shelves. "What do I have if I don't know myself?" Thyme was taken aback by Thistle's unusually somber tone, but before she could think about this further he began to laugh loudly again. It was so abrupt that Thyme wondered if she'd imagined his serious attitude. "Kehaha actually I'll have everything! Vaati should be finishing the cap in a few weeks."

Thyme perked up. The other conversation had become somewhat awkward, and she was more than willing to change the topic. Seeing Thistle take a serious turn, in his brightly colored goofy bird mask and his ridiculous suit, left a bad feeling in her chest. "Oh! Uh, so that was another thing I was wondering about."

"Then shoot!"

Thyme crossed her long, tan legs, and she rested her chin on her hands. "Have you actually thought about any wishes? It's a serious deal, having that much power. All of that responsibility."

"Ha! You make it sound as though I give no serious thought to anything!" Thistle waved a hand dismissively. He walked over and picked up one of his silver orbs he'd been working on quite some time; the red one he'd jokingly named 'Charmander.'

"Well… that's kind of true, isn't it?"

"Nonsense, I think really hard every morning about what shoes I'm going to wear."

"Thistle… you have like… three pairs of shoes. And they're almost all the same." Her shoulders relaxed and she was more at ease now that the other conversation had been set aside. This line of banter was much more like how it was on other days.

Yes, this was more like how it usually was, with Thyme sitting down in one corner of the room, Thistle fiddling around with whatever project he was working on, and the two just exchanging a silly conversation. She never got tired of Thistle's childishly simple outlook on life: it was so refreshing to see someone so unbothered by all of the pitfalls life threw at them. He's so…

Wow. Thyme shook that thought aside quickly, and she was thankful that her darker skin tone could hide her reddening cheeks. Thistle is stupid. The end.

"But they're _not_. And that makes the decision _difficult_," Thistle continued, twisting the two halves of the sphere so that red lines lit up on the metal ball.

"Yeah, whatever," Thyme grumbled. Then, she frowned and threw back the sorceress hood away from her head exasperatedly. "You made me go on a tangent! See? You haven't given any thought to your wish at all!"

"I have!" Thistle stuck his hands on his hips and appeared to pout. "It'll be great, you'll see. I'll be a true deity on a whole different class than Vaati. The world will literally be mine to mold." He tossed the silver orb into the air and caught it declaratorily.

"More power? That's it?" Thyme blanched.

"What do you mean, 'that's it?' It's glorious!"

Thyme threw her hands up in the air. "But of all the wishes you can make! You could cure disease, solve world hunger, actually do the impossible!"

"Liiike be an actual god?" Thistle put up a finger to the small sphere. Thyme hadn't really noticed it before, but now she saw that the sphere had been the one that Thistle claimed to spew out gasoline. With a quick snap of his fingers he summoned a small fire that quickly became a flamethrower with the fuel provided by the metal ball.

"You're already pretty close to being one," she noted, not entirely amused by the fact that Thistle was just _this close_ to setting the whole place on fire.

"But not exactly." Thistle had put out the fire, but was now spinning the metal sphere on the tip of his finger with a thoughtful look on his face. Honestly, it made Thyme nervous that 'Charmander' could very well turn into a spinning fire ring if Thistle decided to do the same fire trick. "Vaati is the closest one to claiming that title. He once wished upon the cap to make him the greatest sorcerer alive, and even claimed some of the legendary Light Force as his own. I could use the cap to be greater than he could ever be."

"But what more can you possibly gain with that wish, besides personal satisfaction?"

"Why else would I do something besides to gain personal satisfaction?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe like _actually making the world a better place?"_ Thyme's voice was slightly raised now. She was just beginning to change her mind about Thistle not being as awful as she'd begun to think.

"It's not like I've actually tried to do that before, Thyme dear. Why are you so upset about it now?" Thistle was genuinely confused. He set aside the flammable sphere and tilted his head, baffled.

Bingo, that was the question. Why was she so upset with him now? She'd been fully aware before that Thistle rarely did anything to help people for the sake of helping people, even though he was in a position to do so. She'd been able to ignore it, though, because she always thought it was just because Thistle wasn't someone who wanted to get needlessly involved in things.

Actually, that wasn't the truth. It probably wouldn't have bothered her, back before that little brat of a sorcerer had planted that seed of doubt in her head. "You're just… you're so selfish!" She cried.

"Ignoring the fact that I disagree with what you just said because that's a mean thing to say, you just found that out now?" Thistle chuckled. The usually endearing snickers were starting to become irritating. "I haven't changed at all. And who says we have to stop at just one wish? Why am I not allowed to make more wishes?"

Thyme momentarily forgot that she was annoyed and perked up in surprise. More than one wish? That sure sounded like breaking all of the unspoken rules of, well, life. "We can do that?" Thyme wondered out loud. There was no catch… they could seriously make multiple wishes?

"Sure!" Thistle replied happily. "And since you seem to want the perfect world, we can even start from scratch! Erase everything from the face of the Earth, and it'll be like Sim City in real life! How fun is that?"

Thyme hesitated. She looked carefully at the wizzrobe, who appeared so proud of himself for suggesting what he thought was a good idea. "You're joking."

"I'm completely serious! Kehahaha!"

"No, really, you're joking," Thyme insisted.

"Haha, serious is serious, Thyme dear," Thistle chuckled.

"Dear Nayru," Thyme stood up, "you're actually serious."

"Thyme?"

Thyme turned on her heel, the silk trailings around her hips swirling by her ankles as she left abruptly, leaving behind a rather puzzled Thistle. As she walked out into the bright sunlight of the tropical island sun, she rested the palm of her hand across her forehead.

She couldn't believe herself. How had she not noticed before, that something was wrong with Thistle. Well, sure, she knew all along that he was a little weird and had a lot of odd quirks, but to her, Thistle had always been harmless.

But now she was looking back on past conversations as well as the conversation she'd just had. Thistle would casually joke about serious things, which in itself wasn't a problem but some of his jokes involved people getting hurt if he'd actually gone through with them. He didn't _get it_, did he, that some of the things he was suggesting was seriously bad? Or was he still joking? She couldn't tell anymore. Was she taking everything too seriously herself? Why couldn't she laugh along or respond back with playful banter like she used to?

When was he being truthful and when was he lying?

Did he really have no heart, like Vaati had said?

_There's something not right, something's not right with him._

But no… she was still going to believe him. She'd stuck by him long enough. Who was more worthy of her trust: the one she'd been with for years, or the conniving sorcerer kid she knew for less than a year?

The answer should have been obvious.

But it wasn't.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"He's doing _what?_!" Dark exclaimed when Bates updated him on the things he had managed to find out. Bates was getting somewhat tired of having to go over the same explanations over and over and over again every time Vaati wiped Dark's memory, but the little sentry was determined to uphold his promise to keep Dark, well, out of the dark. It was getting more difficult with each passing week since he had more things to report, but it certainly kept Bates more rehearsed on all of the events that had happened since their captivity.

Dark flinched, remembering that they had agreed to keep their conversations telepathic only, in case they were being watched, and then continued the conversation in his head. "He's making a cap that can make _any_ wish come true? And you're saying multiple wishes are allowed?"

Bates nodded. _"Indeed. It's the headwear that allowed Lord Vaati to become god."_

"Well I don't know about him being god," Dark sniffed. Then, he shook his head in awe. "But dang. That means that if I wear it, I'll be able to do everything he can do, and maybe even more?"

"_No one will ever hope to equal Lord Vaati, cretin,"_ Bates said harshly.

Dark ignored him, and scratched his chin thoughtfully. "But hey, Bates, this is kind of bad you know? Whoever gets that cap first is basically going to win everything. Win the world. Win the universe. Just win at life." He gave the sentry a worried frown, "and from what you're saying, it sounds like Vaati's not going to be the one who ends up with the hat."

"_We do not have any sort of establishment of truth for that fact,"_ Bates claimed confidently, but his uneasy glances towards everything but Dark suggested he was anything but confident.

"Ok buddy, that's just your Vaati-fied denial talking. We can't count on Vaati getting this cap, so we're going to work under the assumption that this robe guy is going to take it."

Bates grumbled unhappily. _"Yes, it does appear that the wizzrobe has exerted a prodigious amount of power over the country of stars and stripes."_ He added stubbornly at the end, _"but he cannot compare to the mastery of Lord Vaati." _

"I really, really don't like the idea of anyone having that much power," Dark gazed at his hands, troubled. "I mean, I even hate the idea of Vaati being the one doing the wishing. He'll let the power get to his head, and he'll probably end up making a really awful wish."

"_Lord Vaati_ _will only make the best decisions."_

"So who was the one with the historical reputation for being the evil guy? And then getting his ass kicked by a kid? Oh right, Vaati. Hurray."

"_Mere fools like you will not understand Lord Vaati's grandeur."_

"Dude, you're a fanboy. Your opinions don't count." Dark swatted Bates away. The sentry settled huffily on the desk a few feet away from Dark who'd gone to lie down on his bed. The dark haired Link stared at the ceiling. "Still, I'd prefer Vaati to have the cap more than this wizzing robe thing. At least I know Vaati, which means I have a better chance of getting a wish myself. Best case scenario is if _I_ get it. Wonder what I'd wish for though…" Dark gave a sideways glance towards the sentry who still appeared upset about Dark's disrespect towards his master. "Does Hawk and Kestrel know about this?"

Bates, who had folded his wings in front, slightly unfolded them from himself. "_No_," he answered. "_I only told them of Lord Vaati's current residency, and that he is helping the government create a magical instrument only he may use."_

Dark sat up from the bed with a grin. "Heeey, good work. Who knows what they'll do if they knew about the cap? I was kind of worried you'd tell them that."

"_It did not seem like something they would need to know."_

"And you're right. They don't have to know about it," Dark agreed. He yawned, then stretched. He was starting to get a little tired: he'd heard so many startling and exciting news in such a short period of time. Being debriefed about everything at once could do that to you. "So? Have Hawk and Kestrel come up with a plan yet? I'm counting these ticks on the walls and apparently it's already been a month. There's only a month left, maybe even less than, for the cap to be finished. We're running out of time." He let his finger slide along the scratches on the wall that kept track of the number of days he'd been stuck here.

At this, Bates eyelid curled into an eye-smile that was the equivalent of a smirk. "_They have a formulation thanks to my ingenious efforts as the critical spy." _

"Yes, your highness, you're the greatest being in all existence," Dark rolled his eyes.

"_Yes. Second to Lord Vaati._"

"I was being sarcastic you doofus."

Bates pretended he hadn't heard Dark. "_In any event, their plan is to demolish the traitor Condor and to retrieve Lord Vaati so that we remove the advantage from the wizzrobe. They have a message for you, simpleton,_" Bates spread his wings, flew up, and landed on Dark's right shoulder. Even though their entire conversation thus far had been telepathic, Dark could almost imagine the voice right next to his ear. It wasn't even Bates' usual voice anymore, but a perfect imitation of Hawk's. The sharp, clearly articulated voice that was almost impossible to ignore rang in his ears.

"_The next time you hear my voice is when we're going to move. You'd better be ready, because everything's going to happen quickly. Be ready. Always be ready, and never, ever leave your guard down. It could happen next week. It could happen tomorrow."_

* * *

__fleets: moral of the story, trust = winning. So next time a suspicious stranger offers you free candy, take the candy! (no seriously don't do that). But yeah, poor Thyme's all confused.  
Also, I'm sorry not much really happened in this chapter, but it's the necessary set up for the following chapters. Everyone knows everything (well, mostly everyone) and everyone's out for that cap. You'll find out who actually gets it fairly extremely soon. I'm excited, cause I've been waiting to write that for 21 chapters (headdesk).

Also for those of you who want something else to read while you're waiting, I've also decided to turn that one-shot VaatixZelda into an actual, multi-chapter story so that thing has 2 chapters now. I'm warning you though, it's going to be a story full of hiatuses until this thing is done (I just needed a different genre to write so I could be more refreshed and motivated to write this one).

Thanks for your patience, my lovely readers ;) I heart you all :D

**Reily96: **I think my favorite OC couple from you is the one with AnyaxEugen. GOOD. You're not supposed to be able to guess. I would be extremely impressed if you could guess what would happen in the upcoming chapters. ;)

**Serpent Tailed Angel:** Haha well all three of your guesses, especially with the last one, certainly does cover all possible wishes XD And aww thank you! I'll try to keep entertaining until, well, until I stop writing stories I guess :)

**DarkSakura2256: **Haha yeah, Dark's not too happy. It made sense to Vaati though, but only because he can't trust others to either stay out of trouble or do things right (i.e. "if I lock him up and keep an eye on him, then he won't hurt himself! And to make solitary confinement less painful I'll make him forget everything! Win!" ...not). He'll learn soon enough that he was better off trusting Dark, and letting him actually help haha. Urk, well, I certainly haven't been getting as much sleep as I should be getting x_x. But I think I've finally escaped the doom week of having too much to do...? (knock on wood). Good luck with your projects!


	22. The Tower

fleets: Take this update because I'm awesome like that ;)

Only 2 cards left!

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**Chapter 22: The Tower**

_The Tower: _

_The Tower _represents disruption. There will be conflict. The life that _The Magician_ knows will be overthrown or even ruined.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dark pressed his finger along the faint indents in the wall of his cell, marking the forty-fifth day of his imprisonment. He picked at the marks with a bit of incredulity that so much time had passed; the fact that Vaati wiped his memory of his time here every so often really did make it seem as though no time had passed at all…

Dark's expression hardened as he traced the forty-fifth mark with his finger. They were entering the middle of the second month, meaning that the time limit for Vaati's completion of the cap was frightfully near. Even if Hawk or Kestrel couldn't stir things up in time, something was going to happen very soon. He still hadn't heard back from them, but Bates always ended their debriefing sessions with the last message that Hawk had sent him:

_Be ready._

Oh he was ready all right. Even though he couldn't actually _do_ anything physically to prepare for the day when they decided to strike, he made sure to keep up to speed by talking to Bates whenever the sentry wasn't busy gathering information from around the facility. He'd made sure to ask Bates for at least an hour of his time, just to give him an idea of the layout of the facility he was in. Sometimes a bit of doubt would creep in where he would wonder if this was even worth it, since his memory would be wiped out eventually anyway, but a part of him hoped that maybe, just maybe, his subconscious could keep it for him. It was a stretch, sure, but anything that could even _possibly_ give him help when the time came was worth trying.

To be honest, they were in a desperate situation after all…

Bates didn't really tell him much about the very specific details of whatever it was Hawk and Kestrel was working on. Dark was sure that it wasn't because Bates didn't know: in fact, Bates was probably the single entity who knew close to everything that was going on. Bates had mentioned a few times, almost apologetically, that the whole plan depended on the element of surprise especially since they were outmatched in terms of resources, and that the fewer people who knew about the plan, the less risk there was of an information leak. It took a lot of convincing from Bates for Dark to back down on this matter, but at the end of the day the sentry was right. There was no way to know how they, both Vaati and the wizzrobe, could coerce information from him if it came down to it. It gave him some comfort, though, that Vaati was probably in the same situation: if Bates wasn't telling him all of Hawk and Kestrel's plans out of fear of information leaks, then he _definitely_ wasn't telling Vaati, the one who was in the thick of all this, everything as well.

It was pretty crazy to think about how far Bates had come in terms of becoming a much more autonomous creature. Dark doubted that Vaati had an independent thinker in mind when he first created him. That little bat thing had started out as a highly obedient servant, to something that didn't exactly follow his master's orders blindly. Vaati didn't strike him to be the forgiving type towards deviant servants; Dark hoped that by the end of all this, he could convince the sorcerer to spare Bates for some of his independent behavior…

Sure, in the very beginning Dark only saw the sentry as a tool for Vaati that got in his way… but now he considered Bates as more than a 'thing.' He was convinced Vaati only saw Bates as another object, a tool, and that he wouldn't hesitate to replace the sentry if Bates' personality became a problem.

Dark shook his head. He'll figure something out by the end.

The end. Dark bit his lip. The implications of the end, whatever it was, was huge. He hadn't really put much thought into it, because he honestly didn't know what they could do. Let's say they cleared their objective to retrieve Vaati and kill Condor, what then? The person who had been so powerful he'd been able to keep Vaati under control was still around to do whatever they wanted to do. What would keep them from pulling this same stunt again? They hadn't actually solved anything – only delaying the scenario.

Did Hawk or Kestrel even know what was going to happen at the end? Did they even plan that far, or did they not care about anything else now, except to take their revenge on Condor?

The only thing that would upset the balance enough that this insanity would end, was to remove the wizzrobe. Dark smiled bitterly. 'Remove.' Ha. That was putting it way too nicely. Maybe he'd picked up habits from the Talon guys, who always seemed to avoid using the words 'kill' and 'death' outright.

To kill. That's what they were going to have to do, wasn't it? For one side to survive, the other was going to have to die. Dark grimaced at the thought. He hadn't signed up for an assassination job, but that's what this was turning into. In the happiest scenario, no one would have to kill anybody, and everyone would leave each other alone, but Dark was extremely sure that wasn't an option.

He didn't know what kind of person this wizzrobe fellow was, but he _knew_ Vaati. That guy wasn't going to settle for a peaceful solution where everyone agreed to leave each other alone. Even if it wasn't this time, Vaati would someday, eventually, decide that he was the only one who was going to stay standing at the top.

And let's say, by some extraordinary miracle, Vaati did actually back down and agreed to a truce. Dark was willing to bet that the wizzrobe would eventually try something as well. The man was a person with incredible power right now; people with that much power would end up convincing themselves that they were so great they didn't have to compromise any more. The only way this was going to work without anyone 'removed,' was if both Vaati and the wizzrobe were peaceful in nature and were terrified of conflict.

Yeah, no, that's not going to happen.

And so, if it came down to it, was Dark ready to kill someone?

He didn't really know the answer to that question.

"_Pay careful attention, I am about to relay Hawk's message in real-time."_

Bates voice suddenly startled him out of nowhere, and Dark jumped slightly when he found the eye-bat right behind him. He hadn't noticed the sentry who had appeared in the cell. Dark was about to complain for being surprised, and then he stopped when he realized what this meant. Hawk had a message. That meant they were going to start something, and they were going to expect him to be ready for whatever it was they needed him to do. Dark took a few slow breaths to clear his mind of his troublesome worries, and focused.

Focus. He needed to focus. There was no going back now, and messing up wasn't something they could afford.

Bates settled down on Dark's lap as he opened communication with the Talon men. Dark could hear their voice in his head.

"_Darkie you're there right? You don't have to answer, the little eye guy can confirm that you can hear me. Alright. Good. Listen closely because we're not going to have a lot of time after this to sit and chat."_

It was Kestrel's voice, the techie who couldn't part with his sunglasses. There was also another voice in the background who seemed to be talking to him at the same time, and Dark guessed it was Hawk. There was a brief pause from Kestrel as he confirmed something with the other voice, and then came back to update Dark. It started with a huge sigh.

"_Alright, sorry about that. Okay so we have a good idea about what's been going on now, thanks to your demon thing. So apparently there's this wizard guy who's pretty much in control of the entirety of US politics to his benefit, and he's also the same guy who we, Talon, have been after since the very beginning. Yeah, so, basically we want him gone. I guess."_

Dark listened quietly. Yes, he remembered Bates telling him something about why Talon had even existed in the first place. They were just a group that had probably gone too far while they were trying to uncover some kind of conspiracy involving magic and whatnot. Turns out the one involved in the conspiracy was the wizzrobe involved in the current mess as well. It was kind of crazy how all of this was coming together, really.

"_Anyway, Condor's also with him, so we're going to try to take both of them down. Bates said he couldn't find anyone who matched our description of Condor, but we're pretty certain he's there. He'll probably turn up when he figures out we're going in to get you and your friend out of there.  
Oh, right, so I forgot to mention, I should probably say that you're going to get YOURSELF out of there. I'm going to be straight with you; you're not really our priority anymore, so we're not obligated to save you. But hey, we're going to give you an opportunity to get out. If you manage to meet up with us on our way out, you've got a free exit. In the same vein, if you turn into a liability if and when you manage to meet up with us, we're going to have to shoot you."_

The Talon techie's voice was inappropriately casual for someone talking about shooting someone down. Dark didn't doubt that he meant it, too. He wasn't that surprised about it anymore, though. He'd been unsettled when he'd first spoken with Hawk: how could someone with such an innocent expression be talking about shooting people in a tone that could be used over afternoon coffee? Now he figured anyone who'd been crazy enough to loyally follow Dugal probably had a little dose of crazy of their own.

"_We're going to try to slip by as quietly as possible, but given the circumstances, that might not be so quiet after all. I mean we're talking about infiltrating a military base with a two-man team here, it's not that easy. Bates managed to find a remote shop a few miles away from the actual base that's connected to the underground facility where you are, which makes it less impossible, but it's still pretty difficult, yeah?  
There's going to be a brief window of time where we're going to cause a blackout. Bates will help you with the door, and you should be able to leave your cell. The rest, though, will be up to you. Your eye bat friend will be your guide, so follow him."_

There was a pause as the techie appeared to go back to talking to Hawk. There was a rapid back and forth conversation in the background as though they were talking about something urgent, and then it was Hawk's turn to talk to Dark.

"_Dark? You're still there?"_

Dark slowly stood up, and followed Bates who had flown towards the door. _"Yeah."_

Even before Hawk spoke, Dark had an idea of what he was about to say. _"Blackout in ten."_

"_Wait."_

Even though the request hadn't been directed towards the sentry, Bates flinched and glanced back towards Dark.

Dark pressed his hands against the cold metal door. "Why are you helping me? You don't owe me anything."

There was hesitation on the other end, and then laughter. _"Don't owe you anything? Ha! I owe you for Harrier, if you haven't forgotten. After this, we're even."_

"Hey, well, thanks."

"_Blackout in 10,"_ Hawk repeated. _"And… good luck kid."_

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Vaati, who moments before had been carefully crafting the Wishing Cap, was frowning. He wasn't working on the cap anymore, because he couldn't see what he was doing. And not only could he not see what he was doing, but the machines he'd been forced to use to create the cap were also not working. They were, as far as he could tell in the complete darkness, dead chunks of unresponsive metal and wires.

He looked down at his hands he couldn't see, looked up in the general direction where he guessed the cap room was, and then looked down at his hands again to frown some more. A blackout? What were the backup generators doing, unless something had happened to them too? He couldn't see a damned thing!

Taking the special gloves off that let him control the mechanical arms in the room with the cap, the wind mage threw his hands up in the air to give a loud, exasperated sigh. At least, that's what he was going to do until his hands smashed against a screen above his head, causing him to yell out and shake his hands in annoyance. He lit a small ghost light so he could see his surroundings, and then shot a glare at the offending screen that he'd accidentally smacked with his hands.

_Well, now what? _Vaati thought, kicking his feet up in the desk and leaning back in his chair. He smirked caustically. _Guess your fortress still has technical problems, eh, wizzrobe?_

Vaati's ears twitched, when he'd suddenly sensed an… anomaly. His summoned servant was using quite a bit of its own magic somewhere. He could feel a faint tickle along his fingertips as some of his own power seeped away from the sentry using it for… whatever it was using it for. Granted it wasn't much, but it was certainly enough to get Vaati to notice.

The sorcerer immediately made mental contact with the sentry, and he saw to his surprise that the thing was in the middle of melting off the lock in Dark's cell with its laser attack. Vaati's eyes narrowed under the ghost light, and one eyebrow rose a few centimeters in surprise.

He watched what was going on some more, and then his focus drifted over to the sentry's copy that was with Hawk and Kestrel. It appeared to be leading the two men into the underground facility through the monorail tracks that Vaati had used to first arrive here.

It was enough for Vaati to put two and two together and figure out what was going on. He sat up in his seat and angrily switched his view back to the sentry that was with Dark. He'd been aware that they had been planning to infiltrate Thistle's underground facility sometime soon, but if today had been the day, why hadn't he been informed of it?_!_

"_Why didn't you tell me about this?"_ Vaati snarled at the sentry that was busily working away at the lock in Dark's cell.

Bates squeaked in surprise and he shot back away from the lock, stopping his progress on melting the lock. Then, he looked back towards where Dark was standing in the darkness, and then with a determined expression went back to working on the lock. Bates surprised Vaati with a firm, resolute reply. _"I apologize for my transgressions, Lord Vaati. I do not have time to explain."_

And then, just like that, communication was cut off. It was like someone had cut the phone line and there was no way to contact the other person again.

Vaati stared blankly at the blue ghost light that flickered in front of his face. It took a few minutes for him to register just what, exactly, had happened.

A servant had openly disobeyed him. Disobeyed him. Him.

_What the hell?_

He probably should have been a lot angrier, but he was too shocked to be mad. Never in all his days (and he had a lot of days, mind you) had a servant, especially one he had summoned, disobeyed him. It was something that just wasn't supposed to happen, so when it finally had, he wasn't really ready for a response.

Then, he also realized he didn't have the _time_ to be mad.

The sentry was right, things were starting up, and he didn't have a whole lot of time to come to a decision on what to do next. His gaze immediately fell on the cap that was sitting on the table behind the thick glass. He'd kept the original design when he worked on it, so hardly anything had changed about its appearance. The frame was a thin gold band that eventually curled in an ornate design around the red gem. The band itself was infused with the Life Force Dugal had collected in the Phantom Hourglass. The cap was made of a deep purple cloth that tapered to a tip. If he'd really wanted, he probably could have made it into a baseball caps just for laughs, but he considered the cap as something sacred, not something to fool around with. He still held a certain respect for the original design, and so he'd decided to keep it. It was almost complete, and all he had to do were the finishing touches for it to become that horridly powerful object.

Thistle was in possession of the last materials needed to complete the cap, but it wasn't something Vaati himself couldn't find. The frame was set, the cloth of the cap was put together, the gem was sitting neatly on the frame, and the careful threading laced with complicated enchantments was already complete. All he had to do was burn some more charms along the side of the frame, and let three drops of blood fall onto the gem.

The only reason why he couldn't finish the cap in his current state, was because the only way for him to finish the step requiring blood was to break past the glass and actually enter the cap room himself.

Now, it wasn't the actual act of breaking into the cap room that was difficult. He could always just teleport into the room and do it. The only problem, however, was the fact that Thistle had warned him that Condor would immediately be alerted and would come after him. He hadn't been able to steal the cap earlier because it would be a declaration of war on Thistle, and it was a war he couldn't win…

But now…

His eyes slowly moved to the right, and then to the left. A small smirk played on his lips as he thought about his options. Right now it was a complete blackout, so any security systems in place wouldn't be online to alert that creepy metal-faced Condor. But let's say Thistle had been extra cautious, and had placed magical enchantments that would alert Condor that there had been a break-in: Vaati would actually be adding to the chaos that Hawk, Kestrel, and Dark would undoubtedly appreciate for their infiltration scheme.

It would be worth it. He pressed his fingers up against the glass, and looked at the terrible cap, sitting deceptively peacefully on the table below him. If he could just get away from this facility with the uncompleted cap, and then finish it before Thistle could find him again, then he could make a wish that would utterly destroy him. He would have everything. He would be free from the reincarnation curse, and he would have the power to stand up against Thistle's control.

Thistle had promised to tell him the secrets of the complete reincarnation spell, which would allow him to come back to life with all of his memories upon death, but why would he need that if he had a cap that could grant any wish he desired?

He pressed against the glass harder. He stared at the cap like a cougar ready to strike. This was it. This was the chance he'd been waiting for. He wouldn't have another chance like this again.

There was a faint flicker and Vaati vanished, only to immediately reappear in the cap room where the wishing cap was sitting. He reached out to grab the cap.

His hand didn't hit the soft cloth of the cap.

Instead, they touched the bony contours of a thin hand.

Vaati's hand snapped back in surprise, and he exhaled sharply. A silhouette stepped out of the darkness, and amused, green eyes glimmered back at him under the ghost light. Weird, unnatural shadows played across the bird mask, and it made the figure look like some kind of underworld monster.

Well, truth was the person in front of him _did_ happen to be a monster.

Vaati's lips were pulled back in a snarl, but a bead of sweat rolled down his nose when he realized who it was. It was over. He'd been too late.

Faint, suppressed chuckles eventually grew to full blown sinister laughter that was all the more chilling within the pitch-dark room, with only a ghost light illuminating the walls. Thistle threw his head back, roaring in laughter, as he held his sides with one hand but never letting go of the cap with the other.

Vaati stood frozen as Thistle eventually wheezed and calmed down. He slipped a finger under his mask to wipe away a few hilarious tears, and caught his breath. "That look on your face," he coughed, "that was so priceless. I'll never forget it."

The wizzrobe picked up the cap, examining it in his hands. "You know, I expected you to do something like this Vaati. I mean, I didn't exactly expect a whole, facility-wide blackout happening but given the situation I thought you'd try something like this. I'm sure Condor or the guards or someone would take care of the blackout eventually; that's not something I care about right now."

Vaati's eyes wandered hurriedly, almost in a panic. What could he do? What should he do now?_!_

Thistle flicked the red gem on the cap, letting a light tinkle cut through the air. "Ah! But look at this, you're practically done with the cap! Why waste our time then, let's finish this right now and we can celebrate with a few fireworks and champagne, shall we?" The wizzrobe ran a finger across the golden frame of the cap as he muttered some spells under his breath, and red runes sparked across it as his finger slid across slowly. He did this with careful precision, and the whole process took three full minutes where all Vaati could do was stand and watch. Once it was done, Thistle reached over towards one of the metallic claws of the machinery hanging from the walls and pricked his finger. As blood dropped onto the gem, the hat gave off an eerie, almost black light as though it were awakening.

"There! It's done!" Thistle cried proudly as he held up The Wishing Cap. "Kehaha! Oh, this thing is so perfect. I love its design! Its looks just like the drawings in Ezlo's old notes."

Vaati watched in horror as time seemed to slow down. He could swear Thistle was giving him the cheekiest grin from behind that infuriating mask.

"I think this hat looks better on me, too." Thistle threw his hood back from his head, and placed the hat on his head.

The hat.

The Wishing Cap.

It was on Thistle's head.

Vaati's mind pulled a blank. This was the worst possible scenario that could happen, and there was nothing he could do about it.

The snarky voice of his Gale personality took over for him because the Vaati personality had become paralyzed.

_Well._

_Fuck. _

* * *

fleets: GAME OVER EVERYONE. The story is going to end right here because let's face it, it's over.

Just kidding.

Did you honestly think I was going to make it _easy_ and let someone other than Thistle get first dibs on the hat? Of course not. Well Vaati, at least you tried.  
Sorry this is such a troll chapter. Probably one of the worst cliff hangers I've ever ended on, but it was just so much more dramatic to end it here. Anyways, wishing time! 

**Reily96: **It's going to be reaaaaally slow but you'll see bits of it. Eventually. And hurray stuff is actually happening now whooo

**Anonymous: **Okay I'll start with your chap. 20 review first: Wow that theory... I don't know if it's canon or ever mentioned, but I like it! I didn't put that much thought into what Light Force and Tri Force was, but I just figured all of the force-related objects were triangular, and in PH you get the sand that's also triangular from defeating things, AND in FS games you get force gems from killing monsters... well I just assumed they were related to life/soul in some shape or form. In regards to Minish Cap, I think (and I could be mistaken) that the Minish gave them the Four Sword, but not the Light Force? In that case your theory would make even more sense. In short, yes, I agree and I'm really happy how neatly it falls into place!  
Now onto review 21: Everyone wants to wish something, don't they... I'm rubbing my hands together from reading your guess on Thyme's wish, because that's a neat idea and it would work, except! Dun dun dunnn I have a couple of more plot twists that would totally screw that up (one of them being the fact that Thistle got the cap first hehehe).  
And you were absolutely right, Vaati is upset that he wasn't told everything. And nooo worries, you can see that Bates is also thinking about Dark at this point ;) He cares about them both equally, but it's just the relationship between him and Dark, and him and Vaati, are totally different.  
Well, hugs are awesome! And there can never be too much hugging :D  
And OF COURSE you can talk about theory :) Your theory reviews always gives me something to think about, and that is awesome.

**Serpent Tailed Angel: **Hello! Yup, Dark's had some time now to think about what's coming next. He's pretty rational: staying angry doesn't help solve the problem, so he thinks about potential solutions instead.

**xObsessiveGeekx:** Thank you! And reading reviews like yours puts a smile on _my_ face. :D I was kind of worried about this story because I was beginning to wonder if it hadn't departed too much from the Zelda-verse, but I'm glad people are sticking around after all this time and still reading :)

**Iris Martinez: **And here's another update! Thyme's confused, Dark's in trouble, and Vaati's in even more trouble. Can I make things worse for everyone but Thistle? Hmm. Thank you for reviewing so loyally, it makes me happy to see people are enjoying the chapter updates even after so long :)


	23. Dark Hero

fleets: Hmm, not much to say up here (more to say after the chapter though) so I'll just leave you guys to the story.

* * *

**Chapter 23: Dark Hero**

It was over. It was all over. Thistle had the wishing cap and there wasn't anything Vaati could do about it. Thistle was talking to him but Vaati wasn't really paying close attention. All he could think about was the fact that the Wishing Cap was on the wizzrobe's head.

Thistle snapped his fingers, and on cue all of the electronics and lights that had been dead from the blackout sprung back to life. Vaati's ghost light disappeared as the fluorescent lights engulfed it. "We're such a great team! I mean, look at you, finishing this cap before the two month deadline, before our friend Dugal – "

"Not a friend," Vaati muttered, as he began to aimlessly look around, trying to think of something.

"dropped dead. Although his deadline might be sooner than two months because of the way he's been abusing that hourglass hmm," Thistle mumbled to himself, and then chuckled, waving it away as though it were an inconsequential thought, "but anyway! With a little persuading and mentoring from me, you've created this wonderful hat for me." He peered at his reflection in one of the metallic equipment on the wall.

"Not for you," Vaati replied flatly, but he wasn't completely paying attention to Thistle's ramblings right now.

"I just wish the color was a little different. Maybe a little lighter." Thistle hummed and hawed, and then after a few seconds, the previously dark purple cap became a lighter shade that matched the wizzrobe's hood. "Oh! Would you look at that, it changed color to exactly what I wanted. Kehahaha! How's that for a first wish?" He adjusted the hat on his head so that it fit comfortably, and admired his reflection satisfactorily. "Wow that feels incredible. I feel like I'm on a never ending sugar-high. This is how you feel all the time, Vaati? That's really not fair. Ah, but I guess I'll eventually get used to this and it won't feel that great anymore."

Meanwhile, Vaati appeared to be carefully considering the layout of the room. The wind mage's expression was resolute, as though he had resigned himself to the fact that he'd failed to get the cap first, and was now in the process of judging his next best option. He could feel a faint tingle along the back of his neck: anyone with some kind of magical inclination could sense that Thistle's power had grown exponentially. It was kind of like an increase in air pressure that made it uncomfortable to breathe, a chill static in the air that made it impossible to relax.

Thistle finally seemed to notice the sorcerer who was crouched on the other side of the table where the hat had once been. "Keh, you sense it too, do you? It's not that fun standing on the other side of someone with this much power, is it? That's a little taste of how everyone else, at least those sensitive to magic, have felt around you." His voice was a little resentful towards the sorcerer before it went back to being flippant and careless. "Ah yes, so what did I wish for next, hmm? Well it's simple, really. I just wished to be the Greatest. At everything. Yes, that's it. The Greatest. Your wish was something along the lines of 'Greatest Sorcerer,' wasn't it?" Thistle shook his head disapprovingly. "Your mistake there was that it was too specific. Too many restrictions. Oh, speaking of restrictions, I didn't _just_ wish to be the Greatest at Everything. I'm the Greatest to have ever lived, and to ever will live, and can't be defeated. Did you want to defeat me, Vaati? I see that look on your face. Oooh that's so ferocious. You want to dethrone me, but you can't! I wished that I can't be defeated, so it's _impossible_ for you to take the upper hand. Impossible. I made it a fact of life. Just learn to accept it," the wizzrobe shrugged. Thistle began to pace, slowly, and even though Vaati never thought he'd ever feel remotely threatened by a man wearing a toucan mask, his muscles were tense and ready to snap to action at the smallest sign from the wizzrobe.

"Well, that's that," Thistle shot him brief glances as he continued to walk slowly around the room like a vulture circling above a carcass. Thistle seemed to be debating with himself about what to do with Vaati, but it was all too obvious that his fate had been decided long ago from the way the wizzrobe's voice darkened abruptly. "Hmmm, now what to do with you? I like our team, I really do, but sometimes I feel like it's all one-sided. I don't want to force you to stay, so I'm going to have to let you go. Such a shame." Thistle slowly raised his arms and gave a sinister cackle. He squeezed his right hand into a fist and brought it down forcefully. Dark energy surrounded the metal table in the middle of the room, and it crumpled in on itself like paper with a loud crack. "Let's have some fun before you go then. Let's see whose wish was better! I mean, of course I'm going to win, I mean I made that a reality, but let's pretend we don't know that and have a contest." Thistle shoved his face towards Vaati with a wide-eyed grin.

In a split second, there was a deafening crash as Thistle was run over by a gigantic black claw. It caught him squarely in the chest and smashed him into the wall on the other side. The entire room became dark as shadow matter accumulated where Vaati once stood, and a grotesquely large, single red eye opened slowly. The voice of the demon eye, the voice of Vaati, the Sorcerer of Winds, reverberated across the walls menacingly. _"I was thinking the same thing."_

XXXXXXXXXX

The lock fell to the floor with a heavy thunk, and the room became completely dark again as Bates' stopped his laser. A faint red ring glowed where he'd bore a hole and the lock had fallen off. With Bates' stone, he could make out a faint red outline around the sentry in the dark, and he could see Bates carefully fly out of the melon-sized hole he'd burned and slowly look around the hall.

"_All clear."_

Dark carefully pushed against the door, careful not to burn himself with the still-glowing metal of the hole, and quietly stepped outside. He could hear hurried footsteps stumbling around in the blackout, and some voices in the distance. Dark felt his way along the wall of the hallway. It was ridiculously pitch black: being underground without any light anywhere, he felt like he was in one of those touch tunnels in science museums.

"_This way._"

Bates began to fly away rapidly towards one end of the hallway. Wordlessly, Dark blindly followed the glowing outline of the sentry; without being able to see anything else, following Bates was the only thing he could do. At first he placed his steps slowly and clumsily, as though he were afraid he would trip over something, and then he realized that the hallways in the facility had been fairly empty and that there wasn't anything he could bump into. Overcoming his apprehension, he quickened his pace.

"_Briskly, here!"_

Without warning, Bates turned 90 degrees to the right. Dark followed, but only after hitting a closed door and muttering curses at the sentry while quickly fumbling for the door knob. He opened the door and crouched down at Bates' urging. Before he could ask what was going on, the sentry shared what he could see and Dark immediately understood why they had to hide. Several feet ahead of where they were, just around the bend, there were three glowing red eyes moving swiftly towards where they had been. Each eye, Dark noticed, was part of some kind of Cyclops dog cyborg thing. Well… 'dog' was the closest thing that came to mind, but it also wasn't the best description. Most of their bodies didn't seem material, and was just some kind of black shadowy cloud in the shape of a terribly emaciated four legged creature. They also had huge claws that shouldn't have belonged on any animal aside from dead dinosaurs, and their head and shoulders were augmented by metal plates and wires.

The bottom line was that they were creepy and Dark wanted nothing to do with them. The three of them stopped at the hallway intersection, and then split off, one going in each direction. One of them briefly stopped in the middle, swung its head side to side as though surveying the area, and then slunk off. Dark saw it literally sink into the floor, melding into the shadows, until it was nothing more than an even darker patch on the tiles that moved swiftly towards its destination.

Dark hadn't realized he'd been holding his breath until Bates let him know that they were safe to leave. Bates had told him that there were things here that weren't 'natural,' and even though he'd been convinced that nothing would really surprise him because he was an 'Avilux veteran,' running into those things in person was an entirely different experience. All of the magic-related creatures and things during the Avilux incident had been surprising and awe-inspiring, but nothing compared to the machine-like precision and cold terror that these creatures, spawned with magic and controlled with technology, could demonstrate. It had been a brief encounter, but Dark already knew that he was extremely uncomfortable about the idea that he was now part of a cat-and-mouse game in near-complete darkness, in an underground labyrinthine facility, against a bunch of creepy robotic shadow dogs, with no way to defend himself.

As though some higher power somewhere had been listening to his thoughts, the lights flashed back on. Dark shielded his face, squinting while his eyes adjusted to the sudden bright lights.

Alright, so his odds were slightly less worse than they were before. Great.

"_Expeditiously! You must keep mobile." _

Bates mentally slapped him to focus. Dark scowled, and then tentatively pushed the door open slowly. He peeked down the hall, making sure nothing was around the corner.

"_Faster, you fool." _

"Geez, I'm just being careful," Dark muttered.

"_I have your back, imbecile, you must take my word." _

With a long frown, Dark gave the sentry the finger, but didn't press the issue. They had agreed that Dark would let Bates guide him through the facility before-hand, and the only way this was going to go smoothly was if they trusted each other. Still, Dark couldn't help but be nervous about the Shadow Hounds, especially since he didn't have a way to defend himself if he were found. "Alright, let's just get to that first detour we planned on going."

Without another word, Dark carefully but quickly followed Bates throughout the building. They had more close encounters, but each time Bates led Dark somewhere safe before anyone realized they were there. Eventually, Bates led him to a locked door and worked quickly to melt it off. Dark pushed through the door as soon as it was loose enough to force open, and eagerly rushed inside. "So there're things here that will help me against those things?"

He looked around, and his small glimmer of excitement slowly began to fade as his eyes landed on the several air-tight glass cases around the room. He'd been expecting some kind of weapons locker, but instead the room that Bates had led him to appeared to be more of a collection room than anything, what with all the display cases. He walked up slowly to the case that Bates was hovering over. He said slowly, "I hope you have a good explanation for this."

Inside each glass case was an antique weapon or tool from the ancient times. The object under the case before him was an old sword, dating back to who knows when. The label on the case called it "Hero's Sword," but it didn't look heroic at all. In fact, it looked like any sort of standard sword with little care put into its design, as though whoever made it only cared that it could be used to stab things. The other display cases had objects that reminded him of the so-called magical artifacts he had seen in the old Avilux facility. There was a short rod of sorts, with a bronze and silver handle and a big red orb set at the tip. Another was some kind of steel-clawed gauntlet, and there was also a battered wooden boomerang. This wasn't exactly what he'd been expecting when Bates had told him they would stop by a room with weapons that would help him.

"_Of course,"_ Bates said proudly, ignoring the disappointment looming over Dark. "_The wizzrobe has maintained the old hero's vintage armament, perhaps out of nostalgia or curiosity. We can employ these against him." _

"These things are old as dinosaur shit, Bates! I was expecting something a little more, I don't know, _twenty-first century?"_ Dark brought his hand down on the glass with a loud slap. "What am I supposed to do if I run into one of those guards and they point a gun at me, huh? I'm pretty sure there's a fantastic reason why guns replaced swords. I wonder what that reason is? I mean, I can't possibly imagine why a small handheld device capable of murdering everything several dozen feet away is better at killing things than a metal slab with a handle."

Bates looked at the disgruntled Dark for a few seconds in what could only be described as smug amusement. If the sentry was a person, he probably would have had his arms crossed over his chest with a condescending little grin. "_A metal slab with a handle?" _Bates chuckled to himself, "_I can't possibly imagine why godlike sorcery capable of blowing the world to the heavens would be bested by a metal slab with a handle." _

"What's your point?" Dark snapped, still unhappy that he had pegged his hopes on some useless antiques.

"_I'm saying that we have, Lord Vaati and his servants have, made the erroneous judgment of underestimating 'metal slabs with handles.' 'Metal slabs with handles' more often than not have the ability to turn the tide for the heroes who wield them."_

"So I'm the big hero now, am I? I'm just going to get shot!" Dark scoffed. Even with all the grumbling, however, Dark popped off the glass case and gruffly picked up the sword. He also walked over to the rod labeled 'Fire Rod' and the claw labeled 'Clawshot' and tucked them under his arm as well. He wasn't really sure how either of those two things worked, but he figured he would be able to figure it out when the time came: right now, he didn't want to waste any more time than he had to. He stuck the Fire Rod through his belt to keep it in place, equipped the Clawshot on his right arm and held the sword in his left arm. "Fine. This hero enough for you?"

"_Appropriate," _Bates did a circle around Dark before giving his approval. _"Although it is contentious whether or not that is an unhazardous location for the Fire Rod."_ The sentry stared somewhat worriedly at the Fire Rod stuck against Dark's hip.

"Well tell you what," Dark leered at the little sentry in front of him, "I'm going to make your life very unhappy if my ass catches on fire. This was _your_ big idea."

Bates blinked, and then snickered. _"Very unhappy? If your posterior region becomes a bonfire I will be incapacitated with mirthful hiccups."_

"Bates, your word choices make everything you say sound so lame. So lame. You gotta fix that buddy, because you're letting your evil overlord voice go to waste. Now come on," Dark moved towards the door with his new equipment and shooed the sentry out the door to make sure their way was clear, "let's move out."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The wall had cracked where Vaati's claw had supposedly smashed Thistle. He'd partly hoped that his attack might have done _something_, but instead of finding the wizzrobe crushed against his claw he realized there was nothing between his claw and the wall.

"Oh good. An enthusiastic opponent is much better than a reluctant one," Thistle's voice came from somewhere around the room. Vaati's demon eye caught a black shadowy cloud that had settled in a different corner, away from his claw. The voice appeared to be coming from there. "I did not expect to see your more powerful form already, Vaati. I guess we're going to have to even the field a little, then. You know, so we can keep this unfairly fair. Or is it fairly unfair? Kehaha!"

A foreboding energy emanated from the shadowy cloud as it gradually transformed into a… creature. Vaati couldn't exactly call it a 'he' anymore, because the last semblance of humanity had left it; it was like how many considered him to have lost his own humanity when he'd sacrificed his more humanoid form for the raw power of the demon eye.

The creature towered at around eight feet tall, and it looked like some kind of a large robed creature with the head of an eyeless bird. Feathers black as the void covered the thing, except for where its scaly arms extended like the talons of a raptor. It was entirely black save for a gold ring around its head and a red gem set in the middle of it. Its high crest of feathers rustled as it turned its birdlike head, and for a moment it appeared as though the thing was eyeless. Suddenly, however, it opened its black beak to let out a cackle, and that was when he saw a single green eye where its tongue should have been. The eye swiveled around to face him, and in that moment a dozen more tendrils shot out of the ground, each with an eye that turned to stare at him.

An equal number of flying sentry eyes was summoned around Vaati as he watched the thing warily. It was a crazy situation, the more he thought about it; there they were, two creatures who were as close to godhood as they could get, and they were going to fight until one of them stopped moving. It wasn't the usual 'monster vs. hero' fight Vaati was used to, but a fight between two monsters who probably didn't deserve a chance at victory in a world with even a hint of justice. Farore was right during the Avilux crisis, wasn't she? There were no heroes here. Only a bunch of selfish bastards.

Thistle's voice reverberated in his head, distorted, much like how his own voice was whenever he transformed. It was deep and menacing, and it was hard to believe that this was the same person who had been speaking cheerfully only moments before. _"I am better than you, Vaati. I will not make the same mistake you made. And when I am through with you, I will finish what I started. The Occult Ascendancy will begin once more!"_

The creature's eye flashed red from the depths of its maws, and Vaati immediately knew what was coming. It was Vaati's same exact beam attack, his most powerful one, with its only weakness being that it took some time to charge and was easy to dodge. The wind mage knew what this meant. Within the small confines they were in, Vaati's huge demon form wouldn't be able to dodge it. The only way to counter the attack was to fire an attack of his own: this was a test of power from Thistle.

A brilliant beam of raw power shot towards Vaati, crackling through the air and ripping some of the machines along the walls in its wake. At the same time, Vaati answered with a similar attack of his own and the two beams met in the middle. There was a thunderous snap as the two beams collided and began to push against each other like a much more lethal version of an arm wrestling competition.

Without warning, there was an explosion as the energy from the two attacks dissipated in every which direction. The entire room was swept with a shockwave and the walls cracked from the incredible force. When the smoke cleared, the two monsters were still standing, sizing each other up from across the room. Thistle appeared to be at ease and completely relaxed, while Vaati shook ever so slightly from the exertion the attack had placed on his body.

The wind mage's eye narrowed as the other creature looked at him smugly. He'd thrown his best attack at him and the wizzrobe (or whatever he was now) didn't appear fazed in the least while he was already getting tired.

Vaati chuckled bitterly to himself. Only a wish was going to get him out of this mess, but that idea was no longer an option.

Impossible indeed.

* * *

fleets: This chapter bothers me. It bothers me because it's a setup chapter for the upcoming ones, and maybe it's just my lack of fondness for battle chapters but I feel like I wrote all that stuff and nothing happened. Maybe it's just me. I hope it's just me...

Thistle made his wish though, but it probably wasn't a huge surprise since it was implied in the last chapter that he was going to make a wish that would let him beat Vaati. Vaati wished to be the Greatest Sorcerer (not sure if that's canon, actually, but in the series I've written I've always gone with this version), so Thistle wished to simply be the Greatest at Everything and impossible to beat. I wasn't kidding when I said I was going to make my favorite OC villain into the most obnoxiously powerful villain. :P

I wish I could post some kind of deviation of Thistle's ultra form along with Vaati's eyeball wrath form, but I'm having complications with my tablet (i.e. don't have it with me) so for now, just look up swain from league of legends in google images or something. Thistle's final form was heavily inspired by Swain's demon raven form, with the main difference being that Thistle has no eyes except for the one in his mouth. I still wanted to stick to the 'all black, mono-eye' theme that was Vaati's final form, but make it more birdy.

And we don't have Link this time, so we had to leave it to Dark to pick up that role this time. And no, that's not the Master Sword since that thing disappeared with the real Link in Avilux. It really is just some plain old sword (like the starter swords you get in most Zelda games).

And lastly, maybe this chapter isn't that exciting for me personally because it's missing the rest of the cast. Like Dugal, Condor, Hawk, Kestrel, Thyme. They'll be in the upcoming chapters though.

Thanks again for reading this. I know it's a long read.

**Anonymous: **Yep, Thistle is pretty much omnipotent now. Not quite on the same level of Light Force omnipotent, but basically better than the current best at anything (since that is basically what his wish specified). So it really does seem like the story is pretty much game over, but the fact that this story isn't already filed under 'Complete' status suggests that I do have a few exit-plans for our protagonists ;)  
Vaati's mistake was that he wished too little. Wishing to be the Greatest Sorcerer doesn't necessarily mean that he will best, for instance, the Greatest Swordsman. Thistle, on the other hand, wished to be the Greatest for everything, so there's really no way to defeat him conventionally at this point. Vaati is still very much capable of being Thistle's equal, but Thistle's wish gives him an edge against our favorite wind mage.  
At least Thistle's first wish was the extremely harmless one of changing the hat color (well... before he made the game ender wish).  
And awww thank you so much! Well back when I was even more immature as a writer than I am now years ago, I did freak out about people guessing plot progression and whatnot. Then I realized that a good writer should be confident with their abilities to still provide the element of surprise even if people end up guessing what happens next. It's the presentation that matters. Once I realized that, I learned that it was okay to let people guess away and now I actually welcome it ;)

**Serpent Tailed Angel: **Haha Condor will show up. Soon. He's part of the story after all :P  
Wellll Thistle _is_ the main villain this time, whereas in Rend he was more of a supporting villain-turned-protagonist. He'll make a few readers unhappy in OA I'm sure (though I'll still love him ;A;) I hope I didn't have to make you wait too long!

**Lord Tuxedo: **Lol I actually hadn't thought of that, but that would make a great comedy alternative ending XD

**Iris Martinez: **And a big thank YOU for sticking around for so long! :D

**alice: **I'm going to reply here and just hope you caught my reply: Oh, I did have an interest in Toaru Kagaku no Railgun! (there's the Majutsu version as well, but it's more of the same story from a different perspective: I personally prefer the Kagaku version). I didn't learn about the Accelerator until after I'd finished Avilux, but he is SO similar to Gale it's uncanny! I guess pale skinny guys with ultra super powers is a common trope?  
Actually the reason why I became interested in the Toaru series is because I'd heard about the technology/magic conflict. It's a theme that also interested me in my NaNo challenge, and also something I've always been interested in which is why I really delved into Avilux/OA :)

**Reily96: **Then I have succeeded :D


	24. Secret of the Curse

fleets: HI EVERYONE just please ignore the increasingly lame titles because I am running out of ideas.  
Anyways, I am kind of back and I have good news to share! I had two very inspiring weeks and I'm happy to say that I will be giving everyone a quick double update this week! Yay! Chapter 25 will be up by Friday definitely, and if we're lucky I might even be able to post it even sooner. Hurray!

Thanks again for making it all the way to chapter 24!

* * *

**Chapter 24: Secret of the Curse**

The last attack pretty much proved it: Vaati wasn't going to win against Thistle in a straight up fight. The wizzrobe outmatched him in terms of raw power, and if Vaati continued this more magical version of arm wrestling, his world was going to be an unhappier one.

Thistle knew this, of course. The birdlike monster swiveled the eye inside its beak towards him in a subtle motion that could only be described as mocking. Then, its eye flashed and opened its beak wider. Vaati reacted immediately, just like before, and the two explosive attacks collided in the middle, pushing each other like two snakes butting heads. Then, the beams dissipated in a burst of energy, leaving Thistle watching him in amusement and Vaati staring back, slightly exhausted.

_I can't keep this up, _Vaati thought as he saw Thistle about to repeat the same attack. Before Thistle could strike, one of Vaati's claws shot forward to slam down on the other monster. Thistle was equally quick, however, and a shadowy pincer spring up from the floor, ricocheting Vaati's claw away. To his horror, the Sorcerer of Winds saw the deadly beam flash towards him.

_KaBOOM!_

The wall behind Vaati exploded, splintering and bending in on itself from the sheer power of the attack. Vaati, meanwhile, had just barely managed to dodge the beam by shrinking back to his Hylian form. He threw up his arms to his face to shield himself from the flying debris, and coughed away the smoke that had settled in the air around them.

He acted quickly. Vaati immediately warped in the general direction Thistle was, appearing just behind him. Throwing his hands out in front of him, he chanted one of his defining spells. "To Stone With You!"

A glimmer of hope fluttered in his chest as he saw the spell hit Thistle squarely in his back. The feathers began to harden to stone, and for a moment he let himself believe that maybe this one spell would be the one to end the wizzrobe. It was a false sense of hope, however, when the feathers that turned to stone eventually crumbled off to the floor, replaced by new ones that were as good as before. Before Vaati could react, a tendril with an eye whipped into view in front of his face through the smoke and fired a small laser at him. Vaati threw his face to the side, but not before the laser cut a thin line across his cheek and took a few strands of hair with it.

As the smoke cleared, Thistle stepped into view, cackling as he smirked at Vaati crouched on the floor with a hand to his bleeding cheek. The wizzrobe had returned back to his silly masked self, no longer in his monster form the same as Vaati. "Gave up on your ultimate form already? It was kind of fun fighting as two mega-monsters trying to squash each other flat, you know? Kehaha!" He appeared as laid back as ever, despite the situation, as he straightened out his suit and pushed up the Wishing Cap a little higher on his forehead.

Vaati said nothing, but he summoned a ring of eyes with batwings that circled around him as a shield. A few eyes glimmered red, ready to attack at any moment.

With a small shrug, Thistle mirrored the other sorcerer's moves, summoning a ring of eye tendrils of his own that writhed around him in a defensive position. Each tendril watched the movements of Vaati's sentry eyes while Thistle made conversation. "I'm kind of glad I get to tell someone everything now. I mean, I told Thyme a lot of things but I don't think she took a lot of what I said seriously. I think she's too fond of me to take most of what I say seriously anyway. Not many people take me seriously, actually, unless they hate me or I do something truly truly outrageous. But you," Thistle waved his arms excitedly, "you will definitely take what I say seriously!"

"Whatever," Vaati growled.

"I consider you as a sort-of-friend, Vaati," Thistle said amicably while at the same time shooting down one of Vaati's sentry eyes. The poor thing squeaked and burned out of existence before it was replaced by another. "Even though you might not remember all of it, we go back quite a long ways. We almost have as much history as you have with Ganondorf himself, or even that Link fellow! You were pretty friendly with them both, I recall, always coming back to life just so you can see them again."

"Uh, yeah, we had so much fun I know," Vaati replied flatly, "Super best friends and all that." He summoned a blade of wind that swirled around his right arm. Tense, he carefully eyed the dozen metal spheres, each about the size of a small orange, that had suddenly appeared around the room.

"And because of that, I'll uphold my side of the promise to let you know the truth about the complete reincarnation spell," Thistle bounced one of the spheres in his palm. "As I said before, I know the secret to retaining all of your memories even after death. I know the reason why you cannot remember a thing every time you die and reincarnate, while I _can._"

Every muscle in Vaati's body was tense now. Half of him was ready to spring at Thistle to attack, while the other half was ready to take in every word the wizzrobe had to say about breaking his reincarnation curse. A lot of this mess was partly due to his search to find a solution to his curse, the one that resulted in him reincarnating after death with no memories of his previous lives. He'd regained his memories as a sorcerer only because of the stupidity of a time travelling Link during the Avilux incident, but if he died again he would go back to square one, with no memories of the past. He'd just be some poor sod who didn't know why the world seemed to want to screw him over any chance it could.

"The secret to memory retention," Thistle said slowly, the corners of his eyes curling behind his mask, "is that you can't accomplish it no matter how hard you try. You're cursed forever."

The silence was so suffocating it was almost as wince inducing as a screaming crowd. The two adversaries stared at each other, one of them appreciating the reaction and the other searching for the joke that wasn't there. Thistle had stopped tossing the small metal ball in his hand, waiting for Vaati to say something.

"…What?" was all that the wind mage managed to say.

"I know I spout lots of lies and exaggerations, but this isn't one of them," Thistle explained when he noted the expression of skepticism on Vaati's face. He grinned behind the mask when Vaati's features transformed into a mix of both horror and anger.

Vaati's brain was furiously trying to process what Thistle was saying. "You're lying!" he shouted.

Thistle shrugged his shoulders. "It's true. I'm just better than you, Wishing Cap or no, kehaha. It's the very nature of being a creature of the Dark Faction, a monster if you will, that allows me to keep my memories while you do not. If you think about it, we monsters already know a thing or two about reincarnation." When Vaati looked at him uncomprehendingly, Thistle continued. "Where do you think monsters come from, hmmm? Have you ever taken the time to notice that if you kill a minor monster, for instance wizzrobes, and then come back to the place it died a few hours later, it will be back alive where you'd found it? Oh, well of course not," Thistle laughed, "No one really cares enough about weak monsters to notice anything about them, kehaha!"

The wizzrobe let the laughter ring for a while. The weak, irrelevant wizzrobe, a monster the more powerful lords would often send to the front lines as cannon fodder, was now the one having the last laugh. "When we die, it's like someone kicks us out of the world to start over. Except we don't remember anything that happened before, so naturally we keep making the same mistake over and over again. I suppose this looks idiotic to an outsider, and is part of the reason why we have so little respect. But by combining the knowledge of your reincarnation spell with my innate ability as a monster to keep coming back to life, it was like having the two missing halves complete each other to turn into a true reincarnation spell. True immortality! And because of this, the only ones who are able to achieve true reincarnation are the weak, unimportant minions who already possess some ability to come back to life." Thistle's eyes gleamed malevolently, "The ones you have stepped all over are the ones truly worthy of being Lord. I am the one who is better than all of you!"

Vaati listened to the tirade wordlessly. He didn't have anything to say. He'd gotten over the fact that Thistle would be no help regarding the reincarnation curse: he'd kind of expected from the beginning that he couldn't trust Thistle. It had only been a tiny bit of hope that he'd find answers from the wizzrobe, so it hadn't been too hard to get over it.

Not that that kept him from being extremely upset, but whatever.

However, one thought that just wouldn't leave him alone was on how familiar Thistle's words were. The world hadn't been kind to this perso… thing… and now it was out to wreck it to pieces. Hadn't he been the same? And now Thistle had climbed all the way to the top by his own power, just like he had, and that made him a scary individual. The Wishing Cap had unleashed the monster in both of them.

"I'll rule forever. Isn't it ironic, that the one who rules forever turns out to be a mere minion?" Thistle sniffed. Then, he opened his arms wide and the metal spheres moved towards different corners of the room, preparing for something. It made Vaati uneasy. "But you know, when you have forever to do whatever you want, sometimes you get bored and you feel like starting over." Thistle cackled, and his next words caused the sorcerer to stare at him in disbelief. "I made sure no one will get out alive. No one. I'm going to reset everything to zero and blow everything up. I'll start from scratch, take things slow. I don't care because I have the Wishing Cap now. Even if you win this fight, Vaati, you won't be able to stop this half of the island from blowing up magnificently."

Vaati blanched. Blow everything up? This was crazy even by his standards. To lose everything… why would anyone do something like that? Then again, he'd never had forever…

"You'd lose Thyme," Vaati thought about the woman who believed in this insane creature. Even though he didn't usually care about these kinds of things, it bothered him a little that someone besides him was as terrible as he was. Had the wizzrobe and he been that similar from the start, or did the wishing cap turn everyone into forces of destruction?

Briefly, Vaati could have sworn Thistle had hesitated. However, the metal spheres quickly charged towards him now, making him forget he'd ever seen that subtle tilt of the head. The wizzrobe replied with only a word. "Regrettably," he said emotionlessly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dark and Bates were now crouched behind a corner, peering at the sight in front of them incredulously. "_What are they doing?" _Dark mentally whispered to the sentry.

Bates rolled his eye. "_You are cognizant that conveying thought in simulated subdued auditory levels is highly redundant?"_

"_Shut up. It feels weird thinking thoughts without whispering thoughts to you while we're hiding. Anyways, are they doing what I think they're doing?"_

"_Out of context that sounds like you are asking clarification for an inappropriate discussion."_

"_Holy shit dude you're the one with their mind in the gutter." _

"_I know not of what you speak." _

"_Don't play dumb with me! God, you're just like Vaati aren't you."_

"_Thank you." _

While this conversation occurred, a few of the guards were busy moving and setting up what appeared to be tons of explosives. Literally tons. There were dozens of crates filled with explosives with more being rolled in, and even though Dark wasn't a bomb expert he could bet with confidence that there was enough to blow the whole place up to the sky.

"_It appears they intend to erase this facility," _Bates echoed Dark's thoughts.

Now sure that he wasn't just going crazy, Dark bit his lip nervously. _"We have to stop them. Otherwise they might blow this place up with Vaati still in it, and I didn't come all this way just to have him die on me." _

"_Agreed."_

But… what could they do about it? There were too many guards around the bombs for him to take on all at once, and if he was caught again then… well… he was pretty sure Hawk and Kestrel weren't going to take a detour to save him yet again. What could he do?

Bates was already a step ahead. Without explaining to Dark where he was going, he'd flown towards the bombs, circled around them, and then followed some wires up through the ceiling. "_Tarry here."_

"_Hey, where are you going?_!" Dark exclaimed mentally, but the sentry had already gone. Grumbling as he hid uneasily in the corner, he switched to shared vision with Bates to see where he had gone. He blinked and sat back, steadying himself from the sudden dizziness of having one of his eyes see his surroundings zip by him.

Bates finally stopped in a wide empty room with a timer in the middle, wires leading down small holes in the ground that led to the bombs on the floor below. To Dark's horror, the timer gave them an hour and a half before it turned this half of the island into debris. Then, the sentry flew around for a few more seconds, taking a moment to observe the elevator nearby in the hallway outside of the room. "_They will usher more explosives here with high probability." _

Dark didn't know how many more floors there were above them, but this was going to be an ugly chain reaction when the bombs on the lower floor went off: the next floor above it filled with more bombs would also explode, and continue on up until everything was destroyed_ "Hey, we have to delay this. We have to stop the timer somehow."_

Bates flew back to where Dark was waiting. He made sure the guards were unaware of Dark's presence and that there weren't any Shadow Hounds prowling around before he turned back to the teenager. "_And are you cognizant of how to do so?"_

"_Can't we just break it?"_

"_Not unless you would like to meet a combustible demise."_

"_Tell Hawk and Kestrel. They might be able to help."_

"_I have already enlightened them of our complication."_ Bates replied. There was a brief pause, and then Bates' eye glowed a faint red as he allowed Hawk to speak through him to Dark.

"_Dark! We just heard about the massive problem of a shitton of bombs. We're not leaving here without Condor's head, but if we ignore this thing I don't know if we'll get out of here alive." _

Despite their awful discovery, Dark felt just a tiny bit of relief from Hawk's response. There was something about these guys that, for better or for worse, you could believe that they'd get done whatever it was they meant to get done. He was glad they were working together this time instead of against each other like before. "_Can you disarm it?"_

"_You're asking the wrong person. I'm pretty sure Kestrel knows how, and if he doesn't then he's the next to go after Condor." _

Dark was pretty sure that was a joke. Maybe.

Hawk continued, "_Apparently there are also a lot of guards around there. Since you haven't hauled your posterior outside of this subterranean structure yet, why don't you be commodious and distract them for a bit. We will rendezvous at the bomb initiation room."_

"_Uh, sure. Wait. What." _Dark glared at Bates who looked at him innocently. "_Did you do anything to edit that message just now?"_

"_No."_

"_You did."_

"_I did not."_

"_You so did."_

"_I may have added things."_

"_WHAT DID HAWK ACTUALLY SAY?" _Dark did his best to refrain from punching the wall next to Bates and causing noise.

The sentry flittered away with a twitch of his wings, the equivalent of a shrug. "_They… did not want you to be involved any further. They preferred I tell you to abscond immediately to safety…" _Bates seemed to sigh. Then, in Hawk's voice he relayed the actual message, unedited, from earlier. "_Apparently there are also a lot of guards down there. You've done your part, just get out of there. We'll take care of Condor and the bastard in charge, and you'll get your friend back. Be careful, kid. See you on the other side."_

Dark fell silent for a few seconds, a little surprised. Even though he knew that the Talon guys weren't exactly doing this for him, two years ago he'd never have expected to have help from any of them. "_Bates, why did you change the message?" _he asked softly.

The little sentry gave him a look, then, that was one he wouldn't have given a while back. It was one of trust, maybe something he'd only ever reserved for Vaati himself, before all of this. They'd all changed, hadn't they? _"Because I know they cannot do this alone. Lord Vaati cannot do this alone." _Bates stared at him sternly._ "WE cannot do this alone."_

Dark couldn't help but smile. He almost wanted to give Bates a hug. Freaking thing could be so adorable sometimes. "_Well hey. I wouldn't have listened to Hawk anyways. You'd think I'd be okay running away while your idiot master is still stuck here?"_

"_How dare you – "_

"_Relax. I've got everyone covered in the 'distract guards' part of the plan." _Dark swatted the angrily fluttering sentry away. "_Just be ready to lead me to the fastest way to the trigger room." _

He peered around the corner again, while having Bates watch his back and also route out their escape. There were fewer guards around now, probably because some of them had gone elsewhere to help carry more bombs. The three left were busy moving the bombs in place, meticulously and robotically. Dark's gaze moved towards the small sprinklers on the ceiling, and then his hand moved towards the ancient rod hooked on his hip. He gave a small smirk. He knew just what he was going to do. "_Get ready Bates. Things are going to get a little chaotic in the next few seconds." _

He snuck farther away from where the guards were and back where he'd come from to set up his distraction. He stood just underneath one of the fire alarms of the facility and then pointed the Fire Rod towards it. Although he wasn't entirely sure how the Fire Rod worked, he figured if there was a button on something, then pressing it would result in… whatever it intended to result in. There was a small red button on the Fire Rod.

Dark took a deep breath.

And pressed it.

A huge jet of flame erupted from the tip of the rod like an angry dragon's roar, and pretty much toasted the poor fire alarm. Dark hadn't anticipated the sheer force of the thing, and it took both hands to aim the jet. Almost immediately the fire alarms began to ring earnestly and the sprinklers turned on, spewing water everywhere.

It was so chaotic that it was difficult for Dark to find Bates to follow him to the exit: the sentry was pretty small after all. The alarm blared in his ear making it difficult to focus, and the water from the sprinklers made the floor slick and slippery. The guards were confused, and shouted at each other, asking what was wrong: probably the most emotion Dark had seen out of them for all his time here.

Dark dashed past the confused guards with his sword drawn and a desperate snarl on his face. As he passed one, he swung as hard as he could, knocking the guard unconscious with the flat side of the sword. He kicked down a cart of boxes on top of the next guard and continued to run after Bates through the slippery hallway. He slipped, falling down onto the floor only to have a bullet whizz above him where his head had once been. He turned around, and saw the third and last guard running towards him with a gun in one hand, and his other wiping away the sprinkler water from his eyes. Before the guard could fire a shot, Dark drew his Claw Shot and aimed for the guard's legs. As soon as the claw caught around the guard's ankles, the teen tugged the chain to send the guard flying onto the floor, causing him to hit his head hard.

With all three guards out cold, Dark ran to the emergency stairway that was just at the end of the hall. He had to keep moving fast as there would be more of them any minute. He was glad he didn't end up having to kill the three guards; even if his own life was in danger, he didn't really want to resort to murder. He wasn't a killer… not like Vaati or Dugal or the rest of those guys.

"_This way!"_

Bates led him down more hallways, stopping him to hide while guards ran past. Curiously enough, they didn't run into any more of the shadow hounds on their way to the trigger room. Even though it was a relief that they were nowhere around, at the same time their absence made him incredibly nervous. Where were they?

And just as he thought that question, Bates suddenly shouted some barely comprehensible garble out of surprise. Bates' yell alerted Dark to a black and silver blur that shot by his neck, letting him dodge it just in time. Two more came charging from up ahead, right in front of a door which no doubt led to their destination. He swung his sword, catching one of them across its side and sending it sliding across the floor, but he wasn't fast enough for the second one. It pounced on him and pinned him to the floor as it pressed its weight against his shoulders, and Dark realized that he had finally come face to face with the conspicuously missing Shadow Hounds themselves.

They had been guarding the trigger room.

"_Of course they'd be here…" _Dark muttered to himself. The hound gave a savage growl, presenting Dark with a terrifying view of sharp teeth beneath its metal helm. Its claws fully materialized, no longer the shadowy fog, and they scraped against his arms, puncturing his skin.

Before he could figure out whether these creatures intended to either capture or kill him, a searing laser blasted the hound off of Dark. It whimpered as its sides burned and slunk back into the floor as a shadowy pool.

"_Bates!" _Dark cried in relief. The little sentry was invisible to the hounds, and he was shooting up the place with a laser that was hot enough to burn through metal. Although they didn't appear frightened, the Shadow Hounds backed away from Dark and his invisible ally cautiously. Dark grabbed the Fire Rod with a determined expression and aimed it at the other two hounds, giving them an opening to reach the door.

Dark slammed the door shut behind him as soon as he'd made it to the trigger room. He leaned against it for a few seconds, catching his breath. "Hey Bates, you don't think they'll be able to go through walls and stuff, do you?" he asked aloud, closing his eyes as he rested against the door. When he didn't receive a reply, he slowly opened his eyes and surveyed the room.

He wasn't alone.

In fact, there was a small gathering in the room around the trigger mechanism in the center, and they were all looking at him in shock.

Hawk and Kestrel were there, both with guns drawn, along with their Bates Beta who had been guiding them to the room. Their guns were pointed towards the man standing on the other side with two Shadow Hounds on either side of him. Well, to say he was a man was… not entirely correct. Although he was nicely dressed in a neat black suit, his face was much like that of the Shadow hounds: metallic, with a single red orb set in the middle that served as an eye.

"Dark?" Hawk seemed at a loss on what to do, and then he angrily turned towards where Bates Beta was. "Why did you bring him here?_!_"

Hawk argued with Bates Beta, Kestrel kept his gun pointed nervously at the hounds, and the metal-faced creature kept staring at Dark as though calculating what to do. "Bates," Dark asked quietly to the sentry that was with him, "what is that thing?"

"_It is Condor."_

Dark froze at the name. That was Condor? That thing… it wasn't even human anymore.

Condor continued to stare, and after a few minutes he seemed to come to a decision. The Hounds abruptly became alert from an inaudible command, and they began to slowly circle around the group. Condor's optic light blinked faintly and the shadowy cloud around his feet grew darker and more menacing. "You want to disarm the trigger," he spoke emotionlessly. It was exactly the kind of voice Dark imagined a murderous robot would sound like: Condor was playing his part well, it seemed. Condor announced his next words in the same flat monotone.

"I'll kill you all."

* * *

fleets: The reincarnation work-around explained! It took forever to give you guys an answer for it, but here it is finally. I've always wondered if Hylians ever thought it was weird that whenever you killed a really low-level monster like a moblin or a stalfos (or wizzrobes), and then you came back to the same area after a while they reappeared in the same spot. I played with the idea a little and then poof, I had Thistle's explanation.

Thistle made some allusions to Rend in this chapter, and that's about as much as I'm going to include in terms of easter eggs.

If Thistle has become an increasingly unlikeable, annoying character, he says thank you. It's pretty much his job to be despicable on some level because he _is_ the main bad guy of this story (although i will love him 4ever whooo).

And now finally Condor! He's finally back to make everyone's lives impossibly miserable.

Hmm, not much else to say, other than the fact that the next update will be posted this Friday the latest :3 I guess I got a little excited after writing the chapters more and more. It's true when I say the stories just write themselves: sometimes it just develops on its own and begins to tell the story in a way I never imagined it to go, and it's exciting! I'm the author, but even I want to know what happens next because I don't even know what it'll finally be like!  
Okay that's enough from me. Sorry I'm just really happy today. See you again on Friday :D

**Serpent Tailed Angel: **I'm glad the last chapter wasn't _too_ slow for you. I guess I just really love writing about character interactions/psychology more that when it comes to battles it feels a little lame. This chapter kind of felt the same way for me too, but I think the next chapter will be better (at least it was more fun for me to write).

**Reily96:** I ask myself every day if I actually know what I'm doing with this story. The only way to know is to actually finish it I suppose! 3 more chapters!

**DemonLordShiek: **Hello! Thank you so much for liking what I'm doing so far! This crazy story I started way back when is almost going to conclude: hopefully we'll all survive this insanity by then haha

**DarkSakura2256: **Life's good! At least today, it's good! I haven't had too much time to draw or write for fun, but it's sunny outside and I feel productive! Or maybe I just had too much sugar this morning idk. I hope you're enjoying your summer too! And yeees I just love swain in LoL, especially when I can land a combo then he's so powerful :D  
Maybe we should have told Vaati to 'aim for the eye' XD

**Dragon Leafeon: **OPOP: obnoxiously powerful, overpowered lol I think that pretty much describes Thistle in 3 words right now. And I will definitely see through to the end of this! I'm so close I can smell the finish-line cupcake I saved since eight months ago that I promised I would eat when I posted the last chapter! Ew! Anyways thank you so much for your review: it's the knowledge that people are still following this story and enjoying the writing that make me feel obligated (in a good way!) to complete it. :)

**SmashQueen:** You bring up really good points! Although damaging the cap probably wouldn't do anything (since he already wished to be uber-powerful, taking the cap away wouldn't change anything except prevent any more wishes to be made), snatching it away or convincing Thistle to make really bad wishes are still options, aren't they? :P  
I was kind of struggling with this idea, on what would make Thistle's wish trump Vaati's wish, and when it comes to canon I like to believe that the cap has a limit (it was only a copy of the Light Force's power after all, I think?)  
But in terms of this story, I'm going with the idea that Vaati was young and stupid, and he was initially obsessed with being greater than Ezlo to obtain his recognition. The first thing he thought of, then, was 'greatest sorcerer.' He also proves to be careless and rash when he misses very obvious details, such as not realizing Zelda had the Light Force even though he knew about its story, so he could have had tunnel-vision about searching for the Light Force instead of simply wishing for it. But yeah, that's just an interpretation for this story and I personally like the other version in terms of canon.

Gah! I've talked a lot! Anyways thank you for reading, and I can't wait to see how this ends either (it's one thing to think about the plot, and another to actually see it play out)!

**LoZMadLover: **It's the final fight, so this is going to drag on a bit hehe: Vaati is not going to have an easy time ;)  
But one thing's for sure! There will only be one victor! Place your bets!  
Haha and no problem. I like to think that Gale and Vaati are the same people, except Gale grew up with different memories so some aspects of his personality are a little different (i.e. cursing a lot more when he's angry). So think of it as just one soul that has been re-calibrated to have a combination of both personalities, if that makes any sense?

**Iris Martinez: **If I get to that picture of Thistle (or any others related to OA) I'll definitely post it on my deviantart account :)


	25. Thyme's Resolve

fleets: Just as promised, double update week! Just before Friday I am uploading Chapter 25! High five!

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**Chapter 25: Thyme's Resolve**

Dark thought he should have been used to fighting things that could have come from video games or nightmarish sci-fi movies after the whole deal with Avilux (oh you know, just fighting against his undead skeleton dad, almost dying to the Goddess of Chaos, easy stuff), but going against Condor, he figured this was just one of those things you couldn't really get used to. For one thing, Condor was _creepy_. He didn't really remember what the guy used to look like, but he thought the guy had been a really average, forgettable person. Now he couldn't stop staring at him, kind of like how sometimes you want to turn your eyes away from gore but for some reason you just can't.

It wasn't just his single-eyed robo-head; there were black things seeping out of him, kind of like on the Hounds. Was it… safe? Like would he turn into a Condor version 2.0 if those things touched him? What the heck were they even? He didn't really want to find out.

The two Shadow Hounds in the room lunged first, dashing around and behind Hawk and Kestrel and then pouncing from behind. With quick reflexes, Kestrel dodged to the right while firing at the nearest Hound, while Bates Beta hovering nearby shot the other with his laser. Instead of focusing on the attacking Hounds, Hawk aimed a shot towards Condor himself, who deflected the shot with a clawed hand that was about three times the normal human size. Noticing Kestrel about to be attacked again by the Hound that the man had shot, Dark swiftly grabbed the Claw Shot and snagged the creature by the neck, pulling at the chain and swinging it away from Kestrel and into the wall. Bates flew over to the downed thing and shot it through the head with his laser.

Dark allowed himself a second of a breather before he fended off another Hound launching itself towards him. There were too many things going on. Too many things to watch out for. Too many enemies that could attack him and too many allies he might accidentally hit. At least one of the Shadow Hounds was down for good.

As soon as that thought passed, he noticed some movement by the Hound whose head had been blasted by Bates' attack.

_Oh fuck no. _

He didn't want to believe what he was seeing. Dead things were supposed to stay dead: things like this only happened in movies and video games. The other remaining hound that was circling around them, trying to find an opening of attack, suddenly stopped and perked up towards its supposedly-dead companion. It looked at the dead Hound that was now twitching its legs slightly, and walked a few steps towards it. It then threw its head back in a howl, which sounded more like a ghostly wail mixed with some horrible digital white noise.

The legs of the Dead Hound gave one final twitch, and then like a zombie dragging its body back up it stood up on all fours once again, as good as before. Even worse, the three Hounds that had been guarding the trigger room outside, the ones that Dark had encountered earlier, had somehow figured out that they could slip under the door by turning into shadow pools on the floor. Now there were five Hounds in the room along with Condor, against three of them plus the two Bates.

While all of this was going on, Hawk had attempted another strike on Condor. He fired two shots from his pistol at Condor's legs, and although it was questionable how much damage had been done, at the very least it managed to knock Condor to his knees. Taking the opportunity, Hawk held his pistol with both hands, ran up to the other man and swung the pistol down onto his head with a loud crack.

Condor fell down, and all this time he didn't put up a single struggle against Hawk's desperately brutal assault. As soon as Condor was down, Hawk shot him at least five times in the back of the head, and then some more shots everywhere else for good measure.

It was a little too easy, and whenever things seemed too easy it was often the case that it was actually impossibly difficult. Kestrel, who had seen the other Hound come back to life, slowly looked at the five hounds and the 'dead' Condor nervously.

Almost immediately there was that horrible wail, and Condor stood right back up as though he hadn't been shot a dozen times within the last few minutes. "Are you done now?"

"Tch!" Hawk's hands on his pistol shook a little from gripping it too hard. He fired several more shots at Condor, who fell down again before standing back up as though nothing had happened.

Changing targets, Dark swung his sword in an arc to move the Shadow Hounds away from him, and then aimed the Fire Rod at Condor. Before the fire could hit, however, Condor gave a single whistle (how he was still able to whistle with that face, Dark wasn't sure) and one of the Hounds tackled him with unnatural speed from the side. Kestrel shot the Hound off of him and Bates and his copy did their best to fend off the rest, but the number of enemies and their near immortal power eventually overwhelmed them.

Was it over for them? Dark gritted his teeth in frustration at their inability to do anything against Condor and his Hounds. _I didn't come all this way… We didn't come all this way just to die here!_

The Shadow Hounds had pinned them to the ground, and although Bates and Bates Beta were frantically trying to shoot them down there was just too many (and too many coming back to life) for them to do any real damage. The Hounds all looked towards Condor for the kill command.

Just before Condor could order the Hounds to kill them all, the door opened and someone else stepped into the room. The soles of his shoes clicked ominously on the smooth tiling, and each step was painfully loud in the heavy silence.

Hawk and Kestrel looked like they had both stopped breathing, and Dark didn't know what to think. Neither, it seemed, did Condor. "What are you doing here," he asked, and even though his voice was robotic it didn't hide the slight irritation in his voice, "Dugal."

Dugal walked over to Condor and coolly tapped him on the shoulder, an unspoken gesture telling the other man to chill out and would-he-please-get-the-hounds-to-stop-growling-at -him. "The boss said some of my old acquaintances were… being stupid," he replied casually, looking down at the three intruders who were now in a hopeless position. "I didn't actually believe him since he lies about everything, so I thought I'd make a personal visit. Turns out he was right."

He then walked slowly, purposely ignoring the anticipatory gazes of everyone in the room, towards the bomb trigger that continued to tick mercilessly towards zero. There remained an hour and ten minutes. "He also said," Dugal had his hands in his pockets and peered at the timer just in front of his feet, "that I should have a word with you if I had a problem with the idea of blowing this corner of the island to oblivion."

"And do you have a problem with that," Condor asked flatly, "sir?" The last word was delivered with much sarcasm. The hounds increased their growling slightly when Condor became alert.

"Ha. No." Dugal shrugged, a sneer on his face. "I just came to oversee the cleanup," he replied darkly, and his eyes narrowed behind his glasses as he tilted his head towards his former companions on the floor. He then turned away from their stunned expressions and gave a crisp smile towards Condor. "Just making sure the job is satisfactory to my employer."

"Then you can go help oversee the bomb placement in the lower levels, and make sure the guards are doing it right."

There was the harsh click of a pistol being reloaded, causing Condor to fall silent. "No. You don't deserve to end my men, Condor," Dugal cut him off quietly. "They've become a liability to our boss, but they once worked with me and I was responsible for them. If anyone is going to put a bullet in their heads, it's me."

"Sir," Condor complied in a somewhat lazy tone. "Just make it quick before they manage to do something," he waved his hands towards Hawk, Kestrel, and Dark who had begun to struggle under the weight of the Hounds.

"_Bates! Can't you shoot him or something at least? Condor and the Hounds might be invincible, but that traitor Dugal isn't!"_ Dark cried out to the sentry. Bates, however, simply watched Dugal in surprised curiosity.

"_I do not believe… So the circumstances are… the situation is not as manifest as it appears," _Bates spoke softly to himself in awe.

"_What are you talking about?_!"

"No," Dugal continued, "have your hounds fetch three sets of handcuffs. Have them bound, and line them up. Besides," he cocked his head towards the timer on the floor. "We have at least half an hour to kill before we leave this place."

"Sir," Hawk's voice shook from barely-contained rage as Condor ordered a Hound to go grab some handcuffs with a tired sigh. "Sir, I… damn you sir. You're no better than him."

Dugal returned a tight-lipped smile. "No, I'm better. Better than all of you."

It only took another ten or so minutes of waiting before the handcuffs arrived in the mouth of one of the Hounds. While they had been waiting, only the barely audible beep of the timer ticking down could be heard in the room. Everyone had been deathly quiet. Dark stared at the floor while he allowed a bead of sweat to roll down his nose, Dugal stared at the ceiling with his hands in his pockets, Condor stared at the timer obsessively but with absolutely no expression on his robotic face, Hawk stared pointedly at Dugal with fiery hate, and Kestrel also stared at Dugal but with the look of a loyal dog kicked to the curb by his master.

One by one, the handcuffs were locked around the three captives' wrists, and they were forcefully pushed against the wall by the five Shadow Hounds. "Turn around, on your knees, hands behind your head," Dugal ordered gruffly as soon as they were up by the wall, "I'll shoot off all four of your limbs and have you bleed painfully to death if you don't listen. I'm also certain Condor here wouldn't hesitate to order his hounds to rip out your major blood vessels for the same effect. Do as I say and I'll make it quick."

They did so, slowly, wordlessly. They didn't have anything else to say.

The hounds backed away and took position next to their master.

"If you would please, Condor, give me some space."

Condor nodded and backed away a few steps with his hounds closely following. He may have been turned into some kind of machine-human-monster, but he still understood that this was a significant event in Talon history. It was somber and sentimental, and he wasn't one of them anymore. It was understandable that Dugal wanted to be left more or less to himself.

Casually, Dugal lifted his pistol and took careful aim, swinging it towards Dark first. His eyes watched him with all the warmth of a winter night. "Any last words?"

"_Bates will you PLEASE shoot the guy now? Before I die and everything?"_ Dark glared angrily towards the sentry and his copy. They were fluttering around Dugal and Condor in uncontained curiosity.

"_This is just fantastic. He may be someone I could have considered Lord-worthy had situations been altered. Lord Helmaroc maybe? Kind of reminds me of the old Lord Helmaroc."_

"_Don't you dare turn your back on me now just because you decide to fantard over this other shit-head!" _Dark positively snarled.

"_Just rest, fool,"_ Bates' eye gleamed in anticipatory fascination as he watched Dugal carefully, _"and observe the brilliant incendiaries to come."_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"_Take a day off, Thyme dear. You should go enjoy yourself on the beach. I've even paid for a day at the spa." _

These words echoed in Thyme's head as she slowly made her way back to Thistle's tiny fortune shop. Thistle had been unusually attentive and nice to her this morning, and while it made her happy, she couldn't help but feel that something was wrong, and terribly so. It wasn't one of those things she could put a finger on, it was just one of those things she _knew_ was wrong without being able to explain why. Maybe it was the fact that the spa he suggested she go to was, for whatever reason, all the way on the other side of the island for no good reason. There were dozens of other spas just as good on their side of the island, so why did she have to drive all the way to the other side? Or maybe it was the fact that he'd been especially insistent that she take the day off. He'd taken her by the shoulders and then led her to her car, the gps already set to her destination, and then waved her off until he couldn't see her anymore. It wasn't a gesture he'd do often. Or ever. Or maybe it was the fact that he wouldn't look at her directly this morning. He would look up and giggle with that same old laugh of his, but he wouldn't meet her eyes.

Like… he was guilty of something and she'd call him out on it.

"Pfff, what. Like he's even capable of feeling _guilty_," she scolded herself for the second time this morning.

The first time she'd scolded herself was for driving back after she'd gone half way to the spa she was supposed to go to. It just hadn't felt right to her, and she couldn't help but be worried for Thistle. She hated herself for not being able to simply listen to what he said, and enjoy her day of relaxing by the beach and having the entire afternoon at the spa. Why couldn't her brain just keep things simple and not overthink things?

Like she'd noticed, too, that those silver 'Pokeball' things Thistle had been working on for the past month or so had also been conspicuously missing from their usual place on his desk. To someone who didn't know him that well, they probably wouldn't have noticed anything missing from that messy room of his, but she could tell. There were certain rules Thistle followed in organizing that 'ordered disorder,' as he fondly called it.

However, she had noticed. He'd been obsessed with playing with those things, tinkling and checking them, and then placing them back precisely in the same disorganized location on his desk. She didn't know what it meant that they had gone missing, but having those things he'd been playing with disappear so suddenly and him not even mentioning it… something was going on that he wasn't telling her.

Alright, fine, so there were probably tons of things he wasn't telling her. The only way she could describe this foreboding feeling was that it was all in her gut, and she couldn't really rationalize what was wrong with the whole picture. It wasn't something she could explain clearly: she could only give small examples of seemingly meaningless details that she'd noticed this morning.

And so she had driven back to Thistle's little shop. She walked out of the car in heavy steps, and unlocked the door to his place without ringing the doorbell: he would have already been to the facility at this hour anyway. She turned on the lights and stepped over the usual mess all over the floor, and made her way to the secret passageway that led to the…

Now what was this?

Thyme frowned when she first noticed one of Thistle's queer miniature statuettes of a one-eyed rock wasn't in its usual place. It had fallen off its usual place on the shelves and onto a box right below it.

Thistle would never be so careless as to allow that to happen.

Unless he was in a hurry.

Or unless someone else had been here.

Eyes narrowing in caution, she walked slowly to the back room where the secret passageway to the facility was located. Her sense of trepidation increased when she saw that the stairs which were almost always hidden by some moveable rubbish had been shoved aside to reveal the way down. If Thistle had been the one to use it, he would have made sure to put everything back the way it was.

Someone else had been here, she was sure of it, and someone had made his way to the facility.

She quickened her pace and boarded the underground monorail that would take her to the facility. Her eyes did a quick scan of the interior as the monorail made its way to their destination, and she noticed that the green LED lights of the clock inside the monorail was completely inaccurate. The clock didn't receive a wireless signal to set itself, so that meant that the most probable reason it was at least twenty minutes off was that a power outage had occurred.

But… a power outage? That was ridiculous. They had backup generators and were well prepared for that kind of thing. A blackout wouldn't occur unless something had seriously gone wrong.

Thyme became increasingly agitated when she stepped off the monorail at the facility and noticed a lack of guards by their usual posts. Where had they gone? She tried to be brave, pretending that she was just going to go to her office like usual and say hello to Thistle before going down to the lower lounge, but it was hard. She was scared that something bad was happening.

She was scared for Thistle, and that he'd made some awful mistake.

"Aaah!" she ducked instinctively when the blaring sirens of an alarm suddenly went off. The fire alarms! Not knowing what to do and scared for Thistle, she backed against the wall and looked frantically down the long stretch of hallway to her right and left. Where should she go? What should she do? She never felt so hopeless and alone.

Thyme reached into her bag and grabbed her cell phone, and quickly typed a message to Thistle. "Where are you?" She was about to hit send, but then she decided to add a few more words. "I'm scared for you."

She waited with the phone in her hands, pleading for it to buzz with the announcement that a new message was in her inbox. Her hands shook slightly, and she waited five minutes for the message that never came. She walked around in a small circle in place with the phone clutched against her chest. Thistle always responded quickly to any of her messages. Granted it had only been five minutes, but she had a feeling that he wasn't going to be responding any time soon, if ever.

Closing her eyes, she put the phone back in her shoulder bag and held on to her necklace. It was a small blue thing in the shape of a staff, and as she gripped it tightly it glowed white before it turned into a tall staff that was slightly taller than her head. The Staff of Byrna: it was said to be capable of protecting its wielder from any sort of harm. She'd never really had to use it, but with all of the uncertainties going on it was the only thing she could rely on at the moment.

Equipped with the mythic staff, Thyme felt better about venturing to the lower levels of the facility. She ignored the blaring alarms, noting the still very apparent absence of the guards from their usual posts. If it was a real fire alarm, shouldn't there be more of them running about? Something wasn't adding up here.

She made her way down the emergency stairs to the lower levels. Eventually, she reached a floor, just above the lowest level, where she could hear voices and frantic shouts. Not feeling exactly comfortable about walking into the chaos without knowing what was going on, Thyme peeked through the narrow window on the door of the emergency exit.

It seemed as though most of the guards had relocated to this level, and they were running about trying to figure out a way to stop the sprinklers that had turned on. A few of them were injured and stunned on the floor, and still others were trying to move some heavy boxes and crates to a drier place.

Thyme held her breath. Those crates… they couldn't be…

They were piled full of bombs.

At that moment, one of Thistle's earlier offhanded comments came back to haunt her. She knew just what was going on now. "_And since you seem to want the perfect world, we can even start from scratch! Erase everything from the face of the Earth, and it'll be like Sim City in real life! How fun is that?"_

"_We can even start from scratch!"_ the memory echoed.

"Start… from scratch," Thyme whispered to herself. "Is that why I wasn't supposed to be on this side of the island today, Thistle?"

Her expression hardened. Without looking back on the bustle behind her she picked up her pace and began to run down the stairs to the lowest level of the facility. Her heart beat faster in her chest as she thought about what she might find down there.

"_I have to find the Wishing Cap before it's too late. I have to find Vaati. I have to find Thistle," _her thoughts whirled in her head. She slammed open the door that led to the final floor of the facility, where the experiment rooms that Vaati had been using to construct the cap were located. She could smell the greasy stench of broken machinery and the dusty perfume of smashed plaster, and she began to run. Was she too late?

Her heart sunk when she finally reached the room Vaati had been using. Its walls were dented and bent out of shape, and shattered glass was everywhere from the broken window that had once separated Vaati from the cap room. Thyme slowly leaned over the broken window to look into the cap room below, and all she could see was a succession of chaotic flashes of blue, red, silver, and purple like a dramatic light show. Within the mess, she finally caught sight of the familiar goofy toucan mask and the suit with oversized sleeves. _Thistle!_

She always knew what he was capable of doing, but to see him like this… so savage and without mercy, a living artillery, it wasn't something she was prepared to see. To her, even though some corner of her mind knew just how terrible he could be, he was still the silly, curious man who was always full of life and surprises. He was literally ripping the place to shreds, and the only thing that kept the room below her intact was some kind of magical force field that held the walls in place and protected it from further damage.

And then she saw it; that thing on his head. It was a light purple cap with a gold rim and a bright red jewel set in the middle. Her mind went blank. He'd made a wish already. He'd used the Wishing Cap to probably wish for something similar to godhood, based off of what she was seeing now and what he had told her earlier. Her dark brown eyes were hidden behind her bangs, but if someone saw them now they would have been filled with disappointment and sadness. _I never wanted this,_ she though as she watched Thistle cackle and summon a wall of deadly ice pillars from the floor, _do you still have your humanity? Because I'm scared you might have lost it._

Her eyes then darted towards the location he was attacking. Between the flashes and explosions of ice and fire, she saw the pale teenager who they had… er, invited forcefully… fighting for his life. Vaati was doing everything he could to defend himself, and he was so outmatched that he couldn't find an opening to give a counterattack. The sorcerer had a barrier in place and was teleporting around the room to avoid the attacks, and it was all he could do in the face of Thistle's brutal onslaught.

If someone didn't do something, he was probably going to die.

Thyme bit her lip, drawing blood. She'd always followed Thistle. She'd always been there to help whatever caught his flighty fancy because she loved to see him laugh and just enjoy living. It had been a contagious sort of energy, one she couldn't get enough of. She'd always been a little dark and cynical, never believing that someone could actually enjoy every day as much as Thistle did. She hated the world and she loved watching someone stick their finger to Life's ugly face and tell it to go fuck itself.

But now…

Had she been wrong all along? Had she been naïve and just as selfish, ignoring what kind of damage Thistle was doing to others? Was she a terrible human being? Had he changed so drastically to become this monster in the last few weeks since Vaati had arrived? Or had he always been this way and she'd refused to acknowledge it because she'd been blinded by his enthusiastic aura?

Thyme's fingers tightened around the blue staff, and the gem set in the middle cast ominous shadows as it reflected the glow from the fight below. She saw Thistle laugh maniacally, and then lift his arm into the air to summon a pitch black creature to life. The shadowy silhouette of an enormous winged worm emerged from the floor, crowding the room below and towering over the wind mage.

In that moment she made her decision. Thistle wasn't the person she once knew anymore, and it was her responsibility to set things right again.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Thistle was completely playing with him now. The six metal spheres that were flying around the room chaotically each had the ability to spew out either fuel or water. With Thistle's fire and ice magic, the gas spheres turned into spinning flame throwers and the water spheres turned into something that shot ice daggers every which way. It took Vaati everything he had to avoid being skewered by lethal ice shards or set on fire like a flare dancer. And while there were those metal sphere things to worry about, he also had to do something about Thistle's other attacks, like summoning pillars of ice from the floor that could easily impale him, or the other general magical energy attacks that whizzed around the room to blast him down.

There were so many possible ways to die in this room that all Vaati could do was to get his defenses up, and wait for an opportunity to do something other than teleport around the room with his shield up. He definitely couldn't attack in his position because any one of Thistle's attacks packed a nasty punch, and if even one of them hit him he was going to be in a lot of trouble.

Thistle cackled, taking a brief pause in his attacks. Vaati immediately took the opportunity and sent a volley of attacks of his own, but they were haphazard and unfocused in his frenzy to do _something_, anything. Thistle raised one hand and brought up a barrier that blocked all of the sorcerer's attacks, and then with the other he slowly made a motion as though to lift something off the floor. There was a low rumble, and a black shadow in the shape of what Vaati recognized as Molgera, emerged from the floor.

Vaati knew about summoning spells, but this was on a completely different scale than what he remembered. Most summoning spells recruited small monsters, like keese and stalfos. The best ones summoned Darknuts. But nothing, nothing came close to summoning a gigantic monster that took dozens of men to defeat.

_This was going to hurt, _Vaati thought as the worm opened its maw and charged recklessly towards him.

Just as the sorcerer brought both of his hands up to quickly come up with a spell to defend himself, another movement caught his eye. Someone else had jumped down from the broken window above and was now standing in front of him, facing the enormous jaws of the black worm fearlessly. A woman stood with her back towards him, her arms outstretched in front of her as she held the Staff of Byrna horizontally across as though to stop the attack.

Vaati's eyes widened when he recognized Thyme standing between him and Molgera. "What are you – "

Vaati never got to finish that sentence, because in an instant Molgera's jaws engulfed them both as it crashed on top of them. The worm disappeared into the floor as a shadowy mess before it disintegrated into smoke and vanished. In the middle of it all were Vaati and Thyme, miraculously unharmed and surrounded by a powerful blue shield generated by Thyme's staff.

For the first time in a while, Thistle lowered his hands and looked at them both in surprise. He turned from Thyme, to Vaati, and back to Thyme again uncomprehendingly. The wizzrobe puzzled over the situation some more, and then finally looked at Thyme with a confused expression. "Didn't I tell you to skip work today?"

His less than serious attitude seemed to provoke Thyme more and her stern gaze transformed into a full blown glare. "Thistle," she shot icily, "what are you doing?"

"I'm just having a little fun!" Thistle replied defensively, throwing his hands up in the air. "And what are _you_ doing, Thyme? You're kind of in my way."

"I," she lowered her hands slightly, her voice softening a little, "am putting a stop to this nonsense. Before you take things too far."

"But if you do that you might, I don't know, force me to kill you?"

"If that's what it's going to take…"

"I don't want to kill you though!" Thistle whined.

"Then stop what you're doing. Right. Now."

The wizzrobe gave her a long stare, the seconds ticking by painfully slowly. During this time, Vaati debated whether or not he should take the opportunity to blast the bird away, but he figured it was going to take more than just one shot to defeat him. Thistle mulled over Thyme's words for a little while longer, and then finally gave a disappointed sigh. "We got along so well, Thyme dear," he said heavily. Thyme didn't want to believe it when she saw that his eyes had steeled over in uncompromising determination, "I'm sorry you didn't go to the beach today."

* * *

fleets: So my idea with Condor was that he'd fight kind of like the Twilight monster things in TP where they can keep coming back to life if one of them howls or something (since he and the hounds turned all creepy-gross with the twilight shard and all).

Also I am super duper sorry these past few chapters have been like, cliff-hanger marathons, but it's really difficult for me to find some other cutoff point without either making the prolonged fight scene lame (since these last several chapters have been the continuation of the same fight) OR I would have to upload a mega chapter that goes on and on until the story ends (which, while awesome, would take me forever to update the story). I hope I won't keep you guys waiting too long for the next one.

And for any of you wondering about what the heck I meant when I said I had a secret-not-secret oc otp of ThisxThy, well, yeah it's not very romantic right now is it rofl

Also everyone is totally going to die. jk. but seriously tho i kind of made everyone in a bad spot and super unhappy and stuff (mauled by bear)

**Reily96: **Haha yeah so these two can probably set the new record for 'going slow.' I think it was a little cuter this chapter, I mean, if you ignore the whole death threats and everything...


	26. Counterattack

fleets: Hi everyone! I hope you didn't have to hang for too long with that last cliffhanger! ;)

* * *

**Chapter 26: Counterattack **

Dark could do nothing but watch as Dugal slowly increased the pressure on the trigger of the pistol aimed at the teen's head. Behind the man, Condor and his five hounds watched the happening impatiently. All it took to get rid of Hawk, Kestrel, and Dark handcuffed against the wall was three bullet shots; the sooner Dugal got this over with the sooner they could move on to more important things.

Like making sure all of the bombs were set in place and leaving the facility to a safer location.

Dark looked down the end of the muzzle pointed right at him between the eyes, and he could feel the drops of cold sweat accumulating on his forehead from nervousness. Bates still refused to stop the man and seemed to know something he didn't. If that shitty miniature Vaati bat was wrong about everything being okay, Dark was going to haunt him from the grave.

Just as he was about to pull the trigger, Dugal gave Dark a small, barely noticeable smirk.

The next few seconds all seemed to be in slow motion, and Dark could catch even the tiniest details of everything that happened. He could see Dugal's left hand slowly lift out of his pocket as the man swung around to point the pistol towards one of Condor's hounds. The left hand was holding a small black detonator the size of a cigarette lighter and the thumb pressed down on the red button. At the same time, Condor's calm stance broke as he bent his knees and held his arms out in front of him, and the five Hounds around him immediately took a step towards their master as though to defend him.

There was a deafening explosion and everything seemed to speed back up to normal speed as Dark winced from the noise and the bright flash of light. Yelps and pained yowls were mixed with the ringing boom of the blast, and when the smoke between the smoke Dark could see the mangled yet moving remains of the bits and pieces of Shadow… things. There were two more gunshots, a cry, and a thud.

When the smoke finally cleared, the only thing left was Dugal standing in the middle of an amorphous black shadow substance with bits and pieces of the metal parts from the hounds strewn about. Bits of fabric from Condor's jacket were scattered and blown to bits, and his helm rested on the floor, its Cyclops eye no longer glowing or indicating any sort of life.

Dugal picked off pieces of gunk from himself, and explained offhandedly to the stunned Talon guys and Dark, "You have to kill all of them at once if you actually want to defeat Condor, by the way," he began to wipe his glasses clean with the edge of his jacket, and then his mouth twisted in annoyance when he noticed that his jacket was also dirty, "I've been meaning to do that for a while now."

"_He slipped a sticky grenade into Condor's jacket earlier when he tapped him on the shoulder. He then waited for all of the hounds to move near Condor to detonate it,"_ Bates explained to Dark cheerfully when the other teen stared at him flatly with a look that said 'you-could-have-told-me-earlier.'

"Wha-what just happened?" Kestrel stammered when Dugal walked over and released their handcuffs.

"I saved you the trouble of killing Condor. Now if you want to make yourselves more useful, you can disarm the bomb trigger and make sure he doesn't come back to life." Dugal sighed, borrowed the edge of a baffled Hawk's jacket and cleaned his still grimy glasses. Satisfied, he propped them back on his face and did one last sweep around the room while tapping his chin, as though deciding if he was okay to leave them there.

"Er, come back to life… sir?" Hawk stood up, asking uneasily. Condor and the Hounds had easily beaten them earlier, and it wasn't a pleasant prospect to think that they weren't permanently dead.

"Sure," Dugal said as though it weren't his problem. "There are still plenty of those Hounds left. If even one of them shows up and howls he'll be right back up. That's why I'm ordering you to stay here and make sure that doesn't happen after you disarm the bomb. I'll take care of the rest."

"Sooo since we're taking orders, does that mean Talon is officially back?" Kestrel joked. He immediately regretted it when his former boss glared at him. "I wasn't serious, sir," he corrected himself. He'd forgotten what Dugal had been like after a long absence and working together with the much more casual Hawk. He'd been happy to see him that he'd forgotten that the man was actually pretty scary most of the time. That glare. Wow, not many people could do the 'glare behind the glasses' trick as well as he could.

"The only thing that matters is that you disarm the bomb and prevent Condor from reactivating it again. I'm ordering you to do so because if you don't do it, we're all going to die," Dugal explained shortly.

"Can't we just leave them here and blow the place up with th-" Hawk began, but then stopped himself. What was he doing? Why was he questioning Dugal? He was scared, nervous. He didn't know if they could take those Shadow Hounds if they reappeared, and he was afraid they would let everyone down. But… he'd been scared countless of other times before, but he'd never questioned. It wasn't that he was a mindless pawn who did everything Dugal said, but it was that he and the rest of the old team were aware that for things to work efficiently when time was short, the best thing to do was trust their leader to make the best judgment. Doubt was a potent poison. This was no time to doubt. If Dugal said they were going to do something, it was because he believed they could do it. Dugal still had his back to them, looking at his watch and mumbling to himself, calculating time. Hawk's expression hardened, and he tried again. "Yes sir!"

At this, Dugal tilted his head towards them. Kestrel was already working away at the timer while Hawk stood facing him with a clean salute. The ex-Talon leader smiled. "Good." He reached into the inside of his jacket and tossed three bundles at Hawk. "It's not much, but this might help you hold them off while I go… take care of some things."

Hawk caught the bundles. They were three remote detonation grenades like the one Dugal had used to take out Condor earlier.

"Use them wisely. I'll be back when I can," Dugal opened the door to leave.

"We won't let you down sir."

For a rare moment, Dugal's expression softened. "I know."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Thyme I told you before he's not what you think he is," Vaati said darkly behind Thyme. He was relieved Thyme had jumped in when she did, but at the same time he was peeved about the help. "Do you see that now? He doesn't care about anything and he's going to kill you. Leave!"

"I… but," Thyme faltered. She brought her barrier back up in defense when Thistle casually summoned a wall of ice that threatened to crash down on top of them. The ice shattered when it hit the shield from the Staff of Byrna, but both her and Vaati could feel the power of the attack. "Thistle?" she searched his face in disbelief.

"Thyme, dear, all I'm asking is for a fair 1 versus 1 with myself and Vaati. The best analogy I can think of to what you're doing is, well, think of yourself as the terrible person who decides to interrupt a romantic date and ruins the mood for everyone. Isn't that terrible? I think it's terrible and I think you should leave." Thistle flashed behind them both and a fireball smashed down onto them like a meteor strike.

The wizzrobe actually sounded angry now. In all her time with him, Thyme had never actually seen him angry. Did her presence bother him this much? Another angry voice behind her interrupted her thoughts.

"This is my fight! I don't need any help! You're just going to be a burden so get out of here!" Vaati growled.

Thyme snapped. Her brows scrunched together angrily. _These two BOYS._ In the next brief pause of Thistle's attack, she broke her shield, and then angrily swung her staff towards Thistle. To his surprise, it launched a projectile that, while it didn't seem to hurt him, was enough to smack him across the face and blink in surprise. "Yeah right you didn't need help! You were losing!"

"I was _not!" _Vaati snarled. He opened his mouth to make an argument, but then decided to leave it at sulking since he couldn't offer a better case for himself. _Just because I wasn't winning doesn't mean I was losing,_ he convinced himself uncertainly.

"You. Are. Both. IDIOTS!" Thyme screamed, and sent an even bigger projectile towards Thistle. He didn't even dodge it or do anything about it. He simply looked at it as it came charging towards him.

She regretted it the instant she launched the attack. It was an attack meant to damage. To hurt. Maybe even to kill. Why had it come to this? This had happened so fast. Of all the things to remember now, her first memory of Thistle flashed before her eyes as the attack exploded with a bright flash.

_A small, cluttered room. It wasn't familiar at all, and it certainly wasn't hers. All of this garbage. There was lots of paper strewn about, unread mail left in a messy pile by the corner of a desk with some on the floor after falling down from the precarious paper tower. She scrunched her nose. This mess bothered her. Couldn't they bother cleaning up the place a little? This was ridiculous. And what was that grotesque little oval statue with an eye and three spikes on its head? Yeah, none of this was hers. This room wasn't hers. Or was it? _

_She couldn't remember a thing. _

_The girl opened her eyes. She reached her hands up above her face, and saw her toned, tanned arms. A frightening question began to surface in her mind as she jogged her memories for something. Anything. _

_Who am I?_

_The girl sat up abruptly, throwing the blanket off of her chest and knocking some other weird objects onto the floor. She had been sleeping, apparently, seeing how she had been lying across a small couch that had been nearly buried with clutter in a corner of the room. She whirled around in a panic, not sure of what she was looking for, until her eyes eventually landed on a mirror. _

_The girl's breathing slowed. She reached out her hands slowly and pressed her palm against the cold glass. The reflection of a nervous young girl around the age of seventeen looked back at her. She was wearing a loose fitting simple t-shirt that was way too big for her, and blue-striped cotton pajama pants. Her dark brown eyes stared back, bewildered, behind her black bangs. _

_Who am I? she asked herself again. The reflection in the mirror didn't answer. _

"_How are you feeling?"_

_She whipped around at the sound of a voice. She screamed when she saw a tall, thin man wearing a toucan mask looking at her from behind the desk. He'd fit right in with the junk all over the room that she hadn't noticed he'd been there all along. _

"_Great! You sound energized and wonderful. Do you remember anything?" The weird man exclaimed enthusiastically. He didn't sound sarcastic at all, and seemed genuinely pleased that she had reacted to his presence by screaming. _

_The girl stopped screaming, recovering from her initial surprise and shock. She peered at him cautiously, trying to gauge if he was a threat or not. "N-no. Nothing. Wh-who are you?"_

"_You don't remember anything? Not even your name?" The man pressed, leaning forward across the desk excitedly. _

"_No!" she snapped in frustration. "Tell me who I am!"_

_But he wasn't listening. The man was too absorbed in his own happy thoughts. "It worked perfectly! I am so good at this!"_

"_What are you talking about?_!" _She yelled. Blood rushed to her face in rage when she began to piece things together. "Did you do this to me? What did you do to me? I want my memories back you bastard!"_

_The man turned to her then, his sharp, calculating eyes putting her objections to a stop with a stern gaze from behind the silly mask. "Who did this to you?" he asked, with a curious tilt of his head. He stood up from his desk and then slowly walked over, handing her a recording device. "You did."_

_The girl fell silent, and then stared at the device now sitting heavily on her lap. She looked at it worriedly, afraid of what she'll learn, and glanced at the mysterious man for answers. He simply nodded once, indicating she should hear the recording. _

_She clicked the play button. _

"_Dear me. If you are hearing this then… ugh it feels so weird recording a message to myself!" _

_The girl froze. That was… that was her own voice. She strained her ears, making sure she caught everything. There was a familiar voice in the background, the same one as the masked man's, telling the recording that it was for her own good that she keep a record. With another sigh, her old self continued the recording. _

"_Alright, fine. Hi me. If you're hearing this, then it worked and you won't remember anything. Your name, your past, your friends, your family. Nothing. And you know what? That's what I wanted to happen so stop freaking out if you are, because you're not SUPPOSED to remember anything." _

_The voice was bitter. Why did she sound so bitter?_

"_Sometimes we wish we could do life over again. Others wish they could lose themselves so they could stop reliving a life too terrible for them to… keep going. I couldn't escape the past. It haunts me. I can't sleep. Every day is a nightmare and I just can't… I can't do this anymore."_

_What was she talking about? What had happened to her?_

"_I made a terrible mistake. I can't escape it… it's all my fault. I can't… I…" the voice paused to take a breath, calming itself before it continued. "But none of that is important now. What matters is that I am getting a second chance to start life over again. The man in the mask is giving me that second chance, and I don't want you to waste it, okay? I don't… I don't want you to waste it trying to look for your past again, because it'll only cause you to relive the nightmares I tried to escape. Please… please trust me."_

_The girl looked up from the device now, and she glanced at the masked man, her eyes wide. What was she going to do now?_

"_I'm sorry about what I've done to myself. I know that's a stupid apology, but I mean it. Oh and don't try to look for friends or family. Just know that they… just don't look for them. It's a waste of your time. They're dead. And I guess… now you're wondering where you'll go to since you don't have anything anymore? Who can you trust? All I can say is at this point, trust Thistle. He's the guy with the toucan mask. He's kind of eccentric, and he looks a little weird, but you can trust him."_

"_That's not very nice," the man, whose name was Thistle, crossed his arms over his chest indignantly._

"_He's the only person you can trust. He gave us a second chance. He freed you from my past by erasing everything we had. And… well I guess that's all I have to say. I… I hope you can live the way you want to now. I hope you don't make the same kind of mistakes I did and… I'm sorry."_

_The recording ended. The girl stared at the quiet recording that was sitting on her lap. Her mind was racing with a million thoughts but none of them were coherent. After a minute or two, her head snapped up towards Thistle, who had been waiting patiently for her to come to her senses. "I have… nothing?" she choked. _

"_Nope!" Thistle cackled inappropriately. A frown flashed across the girl's face as she questioned whether or not she could really trust this weirdo. Then, with more sympathy Thistle added, "Today can be your birthday. That's when people receive a lot presents, isn't it?" He looked around the room, and then he peered over at a book that was dusting on the floor about a few feet from where he was sitting. It was called __Thistle and Thyme: Tales and Legends from Scotland__, a book of short stories about lore and magic._

"_Your name is Thyme," he mused with a mischievous snicker. "This is your home. Everything I own, is yours. Now how's that for a birthday present? Did you want anything else?" Thistle waved his arms generously. _

_The girl considered her new name for a bit. Thyme. For the first time that day she cracked a smile and she couldn't help but giggle despite herself. Thistle acted so happy about everything that it was too difficult to sit there with a frown on her face for too long. She felt she could trust him, even though she didn't know anything about him yet. She looked around at her new home. She had crinkled her nose at its messiness before, but now it was hers. It actually felt kind of cozy now._

"_You're allowed to ask for anything on your birthday, you know. This is your first one! Be as ridiculous as you want!"_

_Thyme smiled. She had a name. She had a home. There was only one more thing. _

"_A friend." _

_Thistle hesitated and looked at her oddly, like it was a concept he hadn't considered before. Then, he threw his head back and laughed. "Done."_

Thyme snapped back to reality, the memory leaving her when the flash of light from her attack blinded her. She brought her arms up to her face, and she wondered what had happened to Thistle.

Suddenly, some invisible force yanked the Staff of Byrna from her grasp. Thistle had teleported right next to her and had coaxed the staff to fly to his palm with some kind of spell. Defenseless now, she crouched, ready for anything.

"I hate forcing you to do things. I really do. But this staff I gave you is getting annoying." Thistle turned the magic staff over in his hands, and then with a small 'poof' it disintegrated to dust. All that was left of the Staff of Byrna were its grey ashes. Then, with one hand he forced Vaati to the other side of the room with a bunch of randomly placed and unpredictable attacks, while with the other he pinned Thyme to the wall with an invisible force. Thyme struggled, but it was in vain. The most she could do was wiggle her fingers and turn her head. Thistle tapped his head where the Wishing Cap rested. "Nothing can really stop me right now, so it's pointless that you tried. You picked the wrong side, Thyme dear. But I forgive you. You won't make the same mistake again after you see what I can do."

"Thistle," Thyme clenched her fists as she hung helplessly against the wall. "You're all I have… don't do this." They were back to where they had been before now, with Thistle completely uncontested. Could they really not stop him?

Although Thistle didn't look back at her and he cracked his knuckles as he faced Vaati, he didn't skip a beat in his answer. "Why must you talk as though I'm gone? I'm obviously going to win, you know." He giggled. "Lighten up, will you? I mean I'm sorry I had to stop you like this, but if you stay like that I won't kill you, yeah? Kehaha."

Thyme hung her head. "You're already gone, that's why."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"And what do you think you are doing, Mr. Petrov?" Dugal asked irritably at the teen who was running next to him around the facility.

"I'm going to end this!" Dark replied pointedly. "I'm going to end the mess you and Vaati started."

"This is none of your business and you'll get in my way," Dugal said stubbornly.

"Then stop me!"

"You're not worth my time."

"Then suck it up and accept it."

Dugal's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I am seriously considering shooting you so I don't have to deal with you."

They ran down two flights of stairs until they were at the lowest level. They didn't encounter any hounds at the lowest level, thankfully enough. Dark had left Hawk and Kestrel to deal with the trigger room when he figured out that Dugal meant to confront Vaati and the wizzrobe on the lowest floors. After some prodding and being annoying enough, Dark had managed to learn from Dugal that there was a high likelihood that the Wishing Cap may have been completed. There was no way Dark could just sit upstairs while guarding a bomb when Vaati might have been in trouble on the lower floors. And he definitely didn't trust the ex-Talon leader to save Vaati's hide if it ever came to that.

Did Dark know what he was going to do once he ran into… whatever it was he was going to run into down here? Nope. Not at all. But he wasn't the type to sit around waiting. He needed to go down there and find Vaati himself.

While he did worry a little about Hawk and Kestrel all by themselves, guarding the trigger from a bunch of Hounds still prowling about (along with the risk of Condor reviving), he wasn't meant to be there with them. He needed to help end this. Oh and maybe punch Vaati in the face for being a total dumbass.

The rumbling was louder now as they made their way through the area. Finally, Dugal stopped by the room where Vaati had been working on the cap. The door was wide open, and there were bits of glass shattered on the floor. There was fighting going on below, with Vaati and a weird masked man exchanging blasts.

"Vaati!" Dark exclaimed, and Bates flew down towards his master excitedly.

There was a woman down there too, pinned to the wall by something invisible and her arms outstretched like she had been crucified. Her head was hung as though she had given up hope. Dark wondered who she was, and why she was down there. There wasn't too much time to wonder, however, because at that moment a stray shot of a magic blast had ricocheted towards her. _She's in danger!_

Dark didn't care who she was. Moving on instinct alone, he jumped down into the battlefield before Dugal could stop him. He gripped his sword, dashing towards the blast as fast as he could. He faintly recalled that he had been able to deflect energy shots with a sword during the Avilux incident: he didn't know how he had done it, but he knew it could be done. He leaped towards the blast and swung his sword, deflecting the shot and saving Thyme.

The two fighting didn't seem to care that he had jumped in. They were too busy trying to kill each other.

Dark took a good look at the one who was responsible for it all. He was cackling a crazed laughter, just on the brink of insanity if he wasn't there already. What… was this thing? It took the appearance of a man, but this was no man. Fire and ice swirled around him a storm, the temperature difference between the two elements causing an unsteady gust around the room. It was almost like he was looking at some kind of evil god…

Well, that probably wasn't too far from the truth.

He gripped his sword tightly. This wasn't going to be easy.

XXXXXXXXXX

Dugal watched the view from above condescendingly as Dark recklessly charged in to save Thyme. For all Dugal knew, she deserved this too. That's what she got for helping that insane wizzrobe. And for Dark to just jump in there like that without thinking: that was just the kind of thing that got you killed prematurely. Uselessly.

He didn't waste any more time. He began to rummage around the wreckage of the room he was in, searching. It had to be here somewhere, he was sure of it. The Engst boy had been using it to complete the Wishing Cap, so it had to be somewhere in this room. Had to be. He pulled and tugged at the drawers that were bent out of shape. With some kicking and pulling, he finally managed to pull one of the drawers free. There was a clatter as something rattled inside, and Dugal immediately reached inside and snatched the thing he had been looking for.

The object glimmered slightly in his hands, the golden sand shimmering in the light.

The Phantom Hourglass.

A determined glint appeared in his eyes as he held it up to his face, and then he looked back down to where Thistle and Vaati were fighting. His eyes narrowed, focusing on the pale purple hat that was propped on Thistle's head. This was it. All he had to do was to steal the hat and make a wish himself. He'd been waiting patiently for this. Smirking, Dugal held up his right prosthetic hand, and clicked open a panel on its side. There was a compartment just big enough to hold the Phantom Hourglass.

Those fools. They all underestimated the hourglass's power. It was evident in the way that the hourglass had been so carelessly stuffed in one of the cabinets without a second thought. They were all blinded by the power of the wishing cap that they had forgotten just what this little glass artifact was capable of. It would be their undoing.

Dugal peered over his glasses, waiting for a chance to strike. He only had one chance. He needed to make his move before Thistle caught wind of what he was doing. He lay crouched behind the window, waiting for Thistle to swoop down near the floor.

Immediately, Dugal clicked the switch on his prosthetic, and Time itself stopped. Everything became stuck where it had been the moment the man clicked the switch. Dugal jumped onto the floor, the seconds clicking only for him. He made a straight dash towards Thistle who was frozen like a statue: even his godlike powers didn't save him from the time-stop.

Dugal reached over and grabbed the cap from Thistle's head.

_I win. _

* * *

fleets: MUAHAHAHA I am so mean! I am so sorry about the cliffhangers, I really am (though apparently not enough because I keep doing them lolol). Anyhoo, moar wishes yeah!

Not much else to say. Hmmm, I hope you guys liked the chapter as much fun as it was for me to write.

**Reily96: **Oh good. Because I am not willing to suffer feel breaking alone huehuehue. ThistlexThyme makes my heart break sometimes since I know their entire unshared background and all ;n; (dun worry we'll get there too)

**Lord Siravant: **Love makes you do crazy things. Like deny all the facts that are there poor Thyme D:

**Iris Martinez: **Glad you like it, even with all of these evil cliffhangers I'm throwing at you! AND YES! I have a crew on my ship! :D

**Serpent Tailed Angel: **Gooo Thyme! Uh, er... hmmm, hey Thyme that was a nice try but... yeah you're still screwed. (abandons Thyme) Go Dugal!

**LoZMadLover: **lol sorry i know i'm a terrible human being for doing the cliff hanging yet _again _XD  
Don't worry, it'll all be over soon enough and there will be no more cliffs to hang ;)


	27. The World and Death

fleets: First of all, I am so sorry it took this long for me to upload another chapter after that cliffhanger I left everyone with the last time. I'd meant to update a week later, but a lot of things happened in real life (some involving air travel, and although I thought I could write on the plane that doesn't happen, or rather doesn't happen _well_, when I'm not getting enough sleep BECAUSE PLANES).

The good news, also the sad news, is that you will never have to wait for an OA update ever again, because this will be the very last one. Yes, you read that right. Last update. Because I am going to be submitting 3 chapters all at once tonight that will finish this series forever.

Which brings me to my next bit; there's another reason why this update took longer than I thought. While writing this, I started becoming incredibly nervous. So nervous that I couldn't bring myself to submit the chapters I'd already finished. Why? Because endings are, well, ENDINGS. Let me explain:

I can write a really enjoyable, decent story and then BAM write the lamest, most horrible ending ever to grace the planet and all of that effort I'd put in earlier wouldn't mean a thing anymore. And there will be nothing more I can do to fix it or make it better. Once the damage has been done, I can't go back and un-end and ending. It just doesn't happen! Mass Effect 3, anyone? Yeah. Take a great series, and ruin it all in the span of ten minutes at the very very end.

With that said, I would like everyone to not judge these last few chapters until you have reached the final word. I already anticipate that some of you _might_ get a little upset by where I take things from here, but please... yell at me only when you're still unhappy after the very, very last chapter at #29.

* * *

**Chapter 27: The World and Death**

_The World and Death:_

There will be conflict. The life that _The Magician_ knows will be overthrown or even ruined. There are two possible outcomes of this change, and they're not mutually exclusive, mind you: achievement of great and glorious things represented by _The World_, or –

…_Death?_

Yes. The loss of everything. Abrupt, complete change. That is the card of _Death_.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He'd won. There was no way anyone could stop him now. He had the Wishing Cap and he would use it for far greater things than what the self-absorbed wizzrobe had wasted it on. Dugal clutched the surprisingly soft fabric of the damning cap tightly between his fingers.

The problem with Thistle's wish had been that it didn't protect him from the cap being stolen. Dugal would make sure the same thing wouldn't happen to him.

He had the cap. He was never going to let it escape him. He couldn't believe he was holding such a powerful thing all for himself, but then again, he could: after all, a part of him knew he would come out on top eventually. He always did.

He continued to run past the frozen characters, sneering as he did so and admiring the cap in his hands. What should he wish for first? There were endless possibilities. He could wish for as many things as he wanted. He could have all the answers to any questions, all the impossibilities would be granted, and he could even bend the laws of physics if he so wanted. The world was his and his alone.

No one could stop him.

It was a great feeling. An indescribable feeling that made everything seem small and insignificant. The peculiar feeling was heightened by the surreal surroundings of everything stopped in time, from the small sparks of fire that remained completely motionless as though in a picture and the immobile expressions of Dark, Thistle, Thyme, and Vaati who were in the middle of fighting. It was unreal.

Without warning, Dugal, who had been in the middle of running suddenly stopped, a hand to his chest. A jolt of searing pain shot through him, a million needles piercing every inch of his skin. He couldn't breathe. His chest felt like it was going to burst.

_What… is this?_

He fell to the ground, still refusing to release his hold on the Wishing cap, his body failing him. Everything else was still completely peaceful in its frozen state, and the only one suffering was the man lying on the floor, writhing and clutching his heart with one hand and the cap in the other. He couldn't even move his hands to place the cap on top of his head anymore.

_Am I dying? _Dugal's vision was fuzzy. His glasses had fallen off crookedly on his face after he'd fallen and now he couldn't really see. _I can't breathe. _

From his blurry vision he could make out the outline of Thistle in his dark blue suit. _Ah,_ he remembered bitterly, _I only had two months to live from that time he cursed me. But… didn't I have at least another week left?_

His consciousness was fading. The Phantom Hourglass, running out of the last of its power that remained in the sand, released the time-stop. There was an explosion of sound and movement as time unfroze. Dugal gave the world a sour smile as a thought occurred to him just. _Ah, I see… abusing the hourglass must have shortened the time I had. 2 months-worth of time had already passed for me. I don't believe it._

Halstead Dugal blacked out just as Thistle, Vaati, and Thyme all looked at him in disbelief, finally noticing his sudden appearance out of seemingly thin air.

_I… I of all people… miscalculated. _

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dark watched the fight between Vaati and Thistle, and then looked at the sword in his hand. Energy projectiles flashed around them, shooting across the room and exploding quickly like firecrackers. The two sorcerers appeared and reappeared constantly in different locations, and occasionally some weird shadow creature was summoned to join the fight for added chaos.

What could he even do in a fight between these two extremely powerful people? All he had was a simple sword, a rod that shot fire, and a claw that could bring things closer to him. What could any of those do against Thistle?

Honestly, probably nothing. But there _was_ something he could do and that was to help the woman who was still bound against the wall by some invisible shackles. "Bates!" he called.

The sentry, who had been making his way towards Vaati to help fight, turned briefly towards Dark, debated whether or not he should help Vaati instead, and then irritably flew back to where Dark was. "_Yes?"_

"I want to free her. Can you help?" Dark waved his hands towards Thyme who looked up in surprise.

"_Are you cognizant of the fact that she was in league with the wizzrobe?"_ Bates pointed out.

"Then why would he do this to her?" Dark snapped, while he looked closely near her wrists to see if he could see what was holding her up.

Thyme stirred, noticing the boy and who appeared to be talking to himself as he tried to find a way to free her. She looked up sadly, and then sighed heavily. She mumbled something under her breath, and the only thing Dark could catch were the words "I'm such an idiot."

"_Indeed. My ensorcelled ocular perception can identify several spells chaining her in place. I can remove these promptly."_

Dark nodded at Bates who went to work removing the magical binds that held Thyme in place. He held out his hand to steady her when they were removed. "I don't know who you are and what you've done, lady," he addressed her sternly when she continued to hang her head, "but now's not the time to regret the things that happened. Learn from your mistakes."

The three of them moved out the way, ducking their heads as somewhere behind them, Thistle swooped down to attack Vaati. The sorcerer and the wizzrobe were just barely evenly matched, with Thistle holding a little of the advantage, and the wind mage appeared just slightly distracted by the new people who had joined them in the battle grounds. Thyme returned a blank, lost look at Dark when they were away from danger for the time being. "I don't know what to do anymore…"

"You can help me find a way to stop that lunatic!" Dark grabbed both of her wrists tightly. "Now are you going to help me end this or not?_!"_

At that moment, Thyme's blank expression lightened up into one of surprise. Her eyes widened, her brows arched, and her jaw dropped slightly with a shocked gasp. However, she was looking at something behind Dark, several feet away.

Halstead Dugal had appeared out of thin air, and in his hands was the Wishing Cap.

Everyone had turned to stop and look at the man who had magically appeared from nowhere.

The Wishing Cap. The Wishing Cap was right there. Just lying there.

The cap.

_The Cap_.

Thyme felt a small but purposeful tug on her wrist. There was a determined, do-or-die expression on Dark's face as he launched himself towards the Wishing Cap that was clutched in Dugal's lifeless hands. Thyme's wandering gaze hardened as Dark's words echoed in her ears.

_Are you going to help me end this or not? _

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_I give up. I literally give up. Time to go home and go to sleep and forget this whole thing ever happened. This is too crazy for me and I can't keep up._ Vaati stared at the unmoving body of Dugal that had suddenly appeared in the middle of the room. First, Thyme had jumped in out of nowhere. Next, Dark had jumped in out of nowhere. Now, Dugal had jumped in out of nowhere. Where the hell had he come from, and why was he lying on the floor like that?

Wait, was he even alive?

Vaati then noticed that the man's face was becoming a ghastly shade of grey, and his eyes were open unblinking in a blank stare. _Well… if he happened to be alive at all he sure wasn't in a good state._ Maybe he felt some pity for the guy; after all, he'd been a pretty decent contestant (maybe he'd even let him have the name 'rival?'). There wasn't time to ponder any of that, however, because what he saw next made his breath catch.

There was something purple caught between Dugal's fingers.

The. Goddess. Damned. Wishing. Cap.

Vaati's head swung immediately over to Thistle, who appeared to be just as shocked as Vaati about the appearance of Dugal on the floor. The wizzrobe's hands were patting his head dumbfounded, the cap no longer there. His grey hair was fully visible without the cap covering it.

Thistle no longer had the Wishing Cap.

The next few seconds were a chaotic blur as everyone in the room dashed for the enchanted cap on the floor, sitting between the unconscious Dugal's hands. Vaati saw Dark rush in next to him, and a long claw attached to a chain shot from the teen's arm towards the cap. The sorcerer heard Thistle shout angrily as the Wishing Cap flew towards Dark's fingers, and before Vaati could stop him the wizzrobe summoned a pillar of ice that froze Dark in a massive ice wall. Before Dark was completely trapped, however, he'd managed to make a desperate throw to the person nearest to him, who turned out to be Thyme.

Thyme caught the cap, and for a moment she looked as though Dark had thrown a bomb at her. She stared at the troublesome thing in her hands in a mix of awe and terror, and then she noticed Thistle lunging towards her in a stricken frenzy. Her next actions surprised Vaati so much that he almost tripped over himself mid-dash towards the cap. A brief look of determined finality passed her face before she chucked the Wishing Cap as hard as she could towards the wind mage. The cap slapped him softly right on his nose when he failed to catch it, as it had caught him completely off guard. He heard the enraged yell of Thistle as he nearly crashed into Thyme, now empty handed and who was looking at her former partner with an expression of defiance.

Vaati hurriedly swatted the cap out of his face, and then clutched it tightly between his fingers. The familiar red jewel gleamed back at him as though it were leering back with a wide-grinned 'hello.' He looked back towards the wizzrobe one last time with an incredulous sneer and shoved the hat down on his head.

He'd waited for this moment for so long ever since he'd started formulating an idea to recreate the Wishing Cap. He'd had weeks to wonder what his first wish would be, and he'd never been more certain about this wish.

Of course, back when this wish had first occurred to him, he had thought himself crazy. Once this wish was made, there was no going back; even the cap's awesome powers would not be able to undo this one wish. Back in the age where Hyrule still existed as a monarchy and monsters still crawled around in the deepest dungeons, he would never have even considered making the wish he was about to make. But times had changed. He had changed. And he knew in his gut that he was making the right choice.

Vaati closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. There wasn't a lot of time to second guess himself.

_I wish for magic to disappear from this world. _

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Thyme looked back at the pale haired teen who had hurriedly rammed the Wishing Cap down on his head. It sat crooked, and a little too far down his eyes after he'd pulled it down over his head too quickly. Why hadn't she made the wish herself?

Because it couldn't have been her. Her feelings would have gotten in the way.

But him? She was sure, from that time she'd had that conversation with him a while back, that he would be able to do it. Some time ago, she'd asked him a question:

"_So what would you have wished for, if Thistle hadn't tricked you into making the cap for him?" _

_Vaati scrunched his nose at Thyme's question in disgust. "He didn't trick me into making the cap for him, I offered to make it so I could steal it back and dethrone him." _

"_Oh, well, good luck with that. The whole stealing thing I mean." Thyme snickered, covering her giggles with an elegant hand. They were sitting in the luxury lounge, chatting on one of the big leather couches near the abandoned chess sets. _

"_Yeah, well, he was a lot more thorough than I thought…" Vaati muttered. _

"_Okay but besides that, what would you have wished for anyway?" Thyme pressed, curious. "Would you really wish for something so boring like 'get rid of Thistle?'"_

"_Nonsense, I wouldn't waste a wish on something so boring." _

"_Huh."_

"_Oh come on, I'm a little more imaginative than that." _

"_Pffft. Infinite riches? World domination?"_

"_Why would I want that?"_

"_Oh I don't know, you look selfish enough." _

"_Heh. Fine," Vaati chuckled before his grin slowly drooped down into a small, troubled frown. "But really I'd wish for something completely different."_

"_Like what?"_

_Vaati paused, letting his chin sink into his hands as he leaned against the couch's armrest. "A sacrifice, I suppose? If I wasn't some kind of villain some people might call it a selfless sacrifice for the greater good. Feh. But since I'm the real antagonist here, despite what others might think, I'd rather people think of it as completely selfish. Why? Well for one thing my motives are selfish. A lot of time has passed since I first wished to be the Greatest Sorcerer in the World. I thought my life would be so spectacular, then. Nothing would be able to stand in my way. I would be able to do whatever I wanted! I almost had it, you know, if it weren't for my carelessness and arrogance."_

"_And now, now times have changed. The idiot masses are a lot more powerful now. They have huge organized armies and incredible technology capable of killing millions with the click of a button. It's the age of information, power alone won't let me do whatever I want. It takes more than overthrowing a single king to take control of a whole nation. And so I've been thinking, what did I actually want before this whole mess started? I'm not talking about this current mess, but this WHOLE mess, right from the beginning. Right when I first started plotting about stealing the Wishing Cap from that daft old man thousands of years ago. It's easy to forget sometimes, in the midst of it all, what this whole thing was about. All I remember, vaguely, is something about wanting to show them all what I could do. That I was the best. That I could do anything I want and no one would be able to stop me. I guess I still kind of want that, I mean who wouldn't, but at the same time…"_

"_It's so much effort now. I mean sure, with the Wishing Cap I could really do anything I wanted. But even if I wished for something that would let me do that, what then? There's going to be someone like Thistle. Din, even if I got rid of him forever, well, there's going to be tons of people just like him and I'll always have to worry about someone trying to pull the same stunt he did. Do I want to do that forever? It sounds like a pain to be honest. Maybe if I had the patience to care about what other people were up to I could do it, but I can't be bothered with that."_

"_I've lived a long time. I'm tired of it all. It seems like everything magic has ever done to me is make everything more complicated. Everyone kind of assumes that magic can make life easier, but what has it done to me? It let me be great, but then it led me to be trapped in a stupid sword for a stupid amount of time. It gave me the power to take over kingdoms, but the consequence was to be trapped in the same stupid sword AGAIN. And then what? I achieved immortality through reincarnation only to curse myself into losing all my memories every time I died. By the time I remembered who I was, someone else had taken my spot and had established himself a pretty organized system to basically do whatever he wanted. It was… kind of what I wanted, actually. Complete, utter freedom. Except when I actually saw what it took to achieve that it didn't… it didn't really seem all that free. I love the wind. You know why? It does whatever it wants. No one can stop it. No one can bend it. It goes where it pleases whenever it wants. No one can push it around. What Thistle has… it's like he has to put down all these cages around himself to keep that illusion of freedom. Some people can deal with that, sure, but I can't. I finally understand how stupid this world is and I'm sick of it. It would be better off if no one had magic. No one." _

_Well… that was everything Vaati had thought of saying in that moment when Thyme had asked him what he'd wish for, but he hadn't said a word. Instead, he gave a small sneer, almost laughing out loud from the irony of it all. "This seems disgusting coming from me, but what if I told you I'd wish for the world to be a better place?" _

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As Vaati made the wish, he saw a brief flash of light. He found himself far above the clouds, all alone. There was a faint ringing in his ears that muted all other sounds. There was a white light hovering in front of him, and as he squinted his eyes, they became the shape of a woman.

The woman spread her arms wide as she walked slowly towards him. Her eyes looked upon him with ageless wisdom, as though she knew everything everyone had ever suffered. Vaati's heart fell from the way she smiled at him proudly but tinged with sadness. She sank to her knees where Vaati knelt, stupefied, and the woman embraced him warmly. She whispered in his ear just before she faded away into nothingness.

"_You made a brave decision. We are proud of you."_

Vaati opened his eyes and the vision disappeared. _Farore? _

There was a clear, crystalline crack that whipped through the air like the ringing of a silver bell. The red gem of the wishing cap had shattered to dust, and with it the cap itself disintegrated into a blue light.

Thistle stood in front of him, frozen. The wizzrobe's eyes snapped wide behind his mask as he saw that the hat had vanished, and then he abruptly fell to his knees as though something had knocked him down.

"AAAAaaaaAAgGGHH!"

The wizzrobe gave the most horrific shriek as he clawed at his head, and he eventually fell to his side, writhing on the floor. Dark energy swirled around him and the wind picked up as the aura dispersed to nothingness; as it did so, the wind seemed to howl with the shriek of a different creature. Perhaps it was the demon that Corbin Robespierre had once, long ago, allowed to possess him. Vaati watched pityingly as Thistle clutched his throat, gasping for air. _You lost._

It was a ghastly way to go, Vaati thought as he watched Thistle's writhing slow down to a few twitches and eventually to complete stillness. Wizzrobes were creatures of magic. They were demons that had taken control of the soul of a foolish man who had thought he could take the power of dark magic. Without magic, wizzrobes were nothingness. They could not exist without it, and therefore neither could Thistle.

The demon that had possessed Corbin Robespierre was dead. Corbin Robespierre himself had died long ago. The wizzrobe Thistle was undoubtedly dead, wished into nonexistence.

There was a small, raspy yelp as Thyme gasped in shock a few feet away from Vaati. She took a few shaky steps towards the lifeless body of the creature who had come so close to ruling over everything. Then, she broke out running and collapsed before Thistle. "No…" she whispered hoarsely, "come back." She shook his shoulders. "Come back, please." She shook his shoulders a little harder, but the wizzrobe remained completely still. His inquisitive green eyes wouldn't open, and he wouldn't greet her with that silly laugh of his.

Vaati looked down at his feet as Thyme refused to believe that her partner was dead. It wasn't his fault, really. It was that wizzrobe's fault for ruining everything. Why did she have to make him feel guilty about it? "He's not coming back. Look… so, he's a wizzrobe. Wizzrobes are just… empty husks of men possessed by a demon and… demons are creatures of magic." He paused, finding it difficult to continue with Thyme so heartbroken. "When I wished for magic to disappear I… basically wished away his existence. Face it," his voice hardened suddenly, as though he'd become annoyed and frustrated that someone was crying so much over his wish. People crying only made him angry. "He's gone and there's nothing we can do about it. He brought this upon himself!"

Thyme wasn't really hearing what Vaati was saying as she sobbed into Thistle's shoulders. Her bottom lip quivered as she failed to hold back her tears. "I'm sorry. Oh goddesses I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. _I'm sorry!"_ Thyme wailed, her voice becoming a barely comprehensible sentence interrupted with heavy sobbing, "_Why does it have to end this way?_!" She buried her face on his chest, her body shaking in grief. She cried some more in a messy gurgle while everyone else straightened themselves out to figure out what damage had been done. A few paces away, Dugal spluttered and coughed, gasping for breath and looking incredulously around him for an explanation. He looked around, puzzled at the scene while Thyme, hiccupping quietly now, was hunched over the dead Thistle. Her voice was now but a small whimper. "Why couldn't you just be happy with what you had…? You're such an idiot, it's all your fault. All your fault. It's… it's all my fault."

Vaati walked over to Dugal, leaving Thyme alone to herself. "So you're alive," he stated matter-of-factly.

Dugal's surprised expression returned to his usual self-assured one. "Indeed," he spoke lowly, picking himself up from the ground. His right hand moved over his heart before it dropped to his sides in a fist. "My time was supposed to be up," he said this almost accusingly at Vaati, waiting for an explanation.

Vaati smirked bitterly. "Heh, you still believe in curses? Because those things don't exist anymore."

Dugal looked towards him questioningly. Then, something occurred to him and he looked wildly around the room. "The cap! Where…?"

"You still believe in magic, too?" Vaati sneered.

Understanding dawned on the other man when he pieced everything together, and his head turned towards the lifeless Thistle and the woman grieving over him. His expression softened. "I see…" he whispered. He gave a small nod. "Did you wish…?" he trailed off.

"I ended it. That's all."

"End everything."

"Yeah. For good."

Dugal paused, then he gave a small tired smile. "I see…" he repeated.

A rustle of frantic movement caught Vaati's eye, then, and he noticed Dark walking wildly in circles around the room, searching for something. He was calling out to some invisible thing in the air while clutching something tightly in his left hand. Dark was still drenched and shaking from the ice that still clung in certain parts of his clothes, but he didn't seem to care. Vaati caught the name 'Bates' being repeated a few times as Dark continued his search through chattering teeth and sneezes. Vaati sighed. _Oh for Nayru's sake…_

The sorcerer walked over to Dark and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, Dark…"

"Bates! This isn't funny Bates, where are you?" Dark continued to call.

"Dark…"

"I know you like Vaati better than me but you can at least let me know you're okay!"

"Dark!" Vaati forcefully turned Dark around to face him. He was shocked when he saw that the other teen's face was pale and distraught. The sorcerer had trouble forming words with the look Dark gave him.

"Vaati," Dark's voice cracked. "What did you do?"

"Hey, I didn't realize you were so attached to that thing," Vaati wrinkled his nose, uncomfortable by all the depressed atmosphere. This was a victory. He'd fixed everything at his cost. Why were so many people so upset, then? Goddesses damn it. Of all the people in the room he should be the most upset.

Dark shoved Vaati's hand away from his shoulder angrily. "Bates," he shot heavily, "is not a 'thing.' He's my friend, and you had something to do with this. Where is he? _Where is he Vaati?_"

Vaati's cheeks reddened, annoyed. "The hell Dark it's just a sentry! I set things right by getting rid of all forms of magic, and that also means I can't summon sentries anymore. The thing's gone and it's never coming back, so snap out of it!"

Dark looked at Vaati blankly for a moment, and then his hands curled into fists. Then, they relaxed and he slumped down onto the floor, sitting on the puddle of water that had formed around his feet. "Just a sentry, huh?" Defeated, he hung his head with a sad, disbelieving smile. He stared pointedly at his feet while Vaati waited impatiently, wondering what to do about all of the feelings flying around the room. Dark shook his head slowly, and eventually he spoke. "You know what he said to me, just before he disappeared?" Dark spoke more to himself than to anyone in particular. "Right when I regained consciousness he appeared right out of nowhere in front of my face. 'Don't have much time,' he'd said. 'Before I surrender, there is but one thing I would like you to harken.' Little guy has such a weird vocabulary I didn't understand what he was going on about at first. But you know what he said right after that? 'Our meeting was a blessed felicity. Our partnership an indomitable tempest. Our farewell a contrite mourning. You are a good friend, Dark. Goodbye.'" Dark looked up at Vaati's flat expression with a pained smile of disbelief. "And then he disappeared."

Vaati threw his hands out wide, exasperated from how this was turning out . "What do you want me to do, Dark? What?" He paced around in small circles, as though his feet needed somewhere else to go but couldn't decide where. Anywhere but here. "I just stopped an insane wizzrobe from turning the world into his nightmare. Sacrifices were needed."

Dark stood up abruptly. His brows were scrunched together, his pale blue eyes narrow. "Yeah," he breathed. Then, he suddenly swung his left arm forward and punched Vaati right in the jaw, sending the sorcerer flying backwards. "But you deserve that one."

The wind mage sputtered in fury, one hand to his cheek, and he angrily shouted at Dark. Vaati tried to summon a small wind to knock Dark off his feet. He stared at his own outstretched hand, poised to summon something but unable to do so. He could no longer tell the wind to move as he wished. Nor would he ever be able to do such a thing. Vaati sighed, and looked at his pale hands, still feeling the sting along the side of his face from Dark's punch.

A mix of emotions welled up and a sinking feeling gripped his heart. Regret? He'd lost so much this time. Had he really made the right decision?

His hands absentmindedly rubbed his shoulders where he could still sense Farore's lingering touch. The sensation indescribable; he'd never felt more at peace than when the goddess had embraced him. He still had trouble believing that had been real, but he could still remember the feeling of her acceptance.

Peace.

Vaati looked around one last time, and began to make his way out of the room. Dugal was talking to Dark over by the corner. They looked up when they noticed Vaati walking out the door. "We're done here. Let's go home."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Thyme had long since stopped sobbing uncontrollably, her cheek painted with salty tear-stains as she laid her head on Thistle's lifeless body. The boys had left along with Dugal, who had gone to fetch the rest of his men on the upper floors to do some last minute cleanup. They'd left her behind, perhaps because neither she nor Thistle was a threat any longer.

_I don't know what to do…_

All she'd had since her memories were wiped was Thistle. She didn't have any other friends because of the nature of her work, and she didn't know who she could go to. She didn't even remember her real name before her memory was wiped, or who she'd been. She never felt more lost.

Thyme heard confused voices nearby, most likely from the guards who had been brainwashed to serve them. They probably didn't even know where they were, or what they had been doing the past several years. Eventually they would go search for answers and find a story no one would ever believe.

Thyme sighed, and lifted her head slowly to look at the monster who'd almost had it all. Monster, huh? It seemed like such an unpleasant thing to call him. While there was no doubt that she had done the right thing in stopping him, she still couldn't bring herself to call him that.

She reached towards his mask, running her fingers along its smooth contours tentatively. Thistle rarely took his mask off, but she'd seen his face once, long ago. She remembered that it had been a bold, daring face which was also ruthless to the point some people might call it cold. But a monster? No, that's not what she remembered at all.

That's not what she wanted to remember.

Her fingers paused as they brushed past his gray hair near the edge of the mask. She began to remove the mask slowly. Suddenly, the beak of the mask slapped her palm away as a loud cough and a gasp came from the supposedly dead wizzrobe, and his green eyes snapped open but for a moment. The two locked eyes for a moment of shared disbelief, and then Thistle went back to sleep almost as though in relief.

Shocked by the improbability, Thyme gasped and clutched at Thistle's shoulders. Her voice trembled. "Thistle…?"

Slowly she put her head on his chest.

She could hear his heartbeat, the soft rise and fall of his chest as he breathed slowly.

She hugged him tightly as though she were afraid of leaving him. "_Thistle,"_ she sobbed.

* * *

**Mirria1: **I'm sorry! But now you'll never have another cliffhanger from this story ever again! :O

**Anonymous: **'hope Dugal won't end up being a bait and switch boss' ... UMMMMMM so yeah that happened eheh... oops? But I couldn't kill him off, nope! As for your question on whether or not Thistle would have been able to take them all at once, he would have been able to ONLY if Dugal (or someone else) had wished something that would logically counter his wish to 'be the Greatest at (literally - including team fights) Everything.

**Reily96: **BAD STUFF HAPPENED (shot) ok so yeah I don't have a story I can share on here, just a vague idea. Bad stuffs. Yes.  
AND HEY I WANT IN ON THAT I DON'T CARE WITH WHO  
Well no more anxiety any more, because with two more clicks of 'next chapter' I will have no more chapters for yous D:

**LoZMadLover: **AND WE'LL NEVER KNOW WHAT HIS WISH WAS. You can count on it being terrible for everyone else though :P And thanks! I have a soft spot for those two :3

**Ayame Wolftail642: **YES jump aboard! And hello there! I hope I didn't keep you waiting for the update too long! :O


	28. Epilogue Part 1 - Hope

**Chapter 28: Epilogue Part 1 – Hope**

It was cold. Not miserably so, but cold enough that it made Vaati a little unhappy. He was in the familiar neighborhood of his New Jersey suburb again, walking back from school with the slushy, salt-melted snow crunching beneath his boots on the sidewalk. It was a few weeks after they'd returned from the nice tropical Guam. The past few weeks were a blur: he remembered a crap-ton of paperwork and explaining and trying to get people to stop asking so many questions. If it weren't for Dugal's generous help he wasn't sure how they would have gotten both the school and gramps to explain the Amber alert, and their long absence from school after winter recess had finished. He wasn't sure what motives the man had in helping them. Was it simply good business practice or a kind gesture? He could never really tell for sure with those Helmaroc types…

He walked home. It was such a slow practice. If only he could teleport from here right back to his house with the snap of his fingers and…

Oh right, he wished all of that away. Forever.

A breeze blew by, chilling him. Din, why did it have to be so cold? Was the wind always this unpleasantly cold for everyone? Vaati scowled and kicked away some slush. He couldn't even longboard back home because the roads were too wet.

He knew it had been the right decision to wish away magic, but goddesses damn it, it was just so convenient. This world didn't need magic anymore, he was sure of it. It had always brought him misfortune…

At least that's what he tried to convince himself. There was nothing he could do about it since the decision was done.

And Dark, too. That kid didn't seem to want to talk to him anymore. They didn't even walk back home together. Well… not that they had ever done so before, since he'd always teleported back home leaving Dark to walk back alone. And he supposed that these days they couldn't really walk back at the same time anyway, since Vaati had gone back to after school tutoring to earn a little side money. At the same time, though, he couldn't shrug off the nagging feeling that Dark didn't want anything to do with him for a while. He never would have guessed that the Link lookalike would become so attached to a simple sentry. Those things weren't even great conversationalists; all they ever did was kind of stare at you a little creepily (like, obsessed) and nod or fly around your face.

Although… although the one that had been with Dark had seemed a little more outspoken than the ones Vaati was used to. What made that one different? Or had they all been like that all along, and Vaati had just never noticed?

Well, it was too late to wonder about that, too, because there would never be another sentry eye ever again thanks to yours truly.

Grandpa Loze's pizzeria came into view as Vaati slowly walked down the block. The smell of pizza that he despised, yet welcomed as familiar, greeted his disgruntled nose as he approached it. He usually loved to hate that place, but today it actually looked kind of cozy. He wanted to go inside, away from the wind.

As though things couldn't get any worse, he saw something blocking his way through the door. Or rather, someone. They were standing right in front of the door, and from the looks of things it didn't seem like they were able to move out of the way either, because something else was blocking their way also.

The 'someone' was Dark, who appeared troubled by a small black cat that had decided it wasn't going to budge out of the way of the pizzeria door. Dark looked up when he saw Vaati approaching with a questioning look on his face. "Oh hi Vaati," he scratched his head, and then sighed exasperatedly, indicating the cat that was sitting on top of the step in front of the door. "I stepped out to take out the trash for gramps and this cat shows up out of nowhere, and now I can't get back inside."

Vaati wrinkled his nose. "What, can't you just kick it out of the way or something? It's just a stupid cat." The pale haired boy walked over and shoved the cat away with his foot from the porch with a loud "Shoo!" 'Shove' was probably a nicer word, as Vaati had put enough force into his kick for it to be called a 'punt.' The only reason why the cat didn't go flying like a football was because it had jumped out of the way at the last minute. The cat's fur fuzzed up in alarm, and it slunk a few feet away with a small mewl. "See? Easy." Vaati shrugged. "Dumb cat."

Dark stared at the cat for a while, somewhat accusingly. "You didn't do to Vaati what you did to me, you cat," he growled. Experimentally, he walked cautiously towards the cat who was now sitting next to, but not in front of, the door. He lifted his foot backwards to kick it.

"_FFFffffHSSSSSSSS!"_

"Hey! Cut it out!" Dark jumped back when the cat lashed out at him with its claws in warning, fluffing its tail up while hissing and spitting at him something furious.

Vaati sneered. "Heh, you're not even respected by a cat. That's a new low for you." As he went to open the door, he noticed the cat was staring at up at him expectantly. Did he imagine it, or did it kind of look happy at the insult he'd thrown at Dark? "What are you looking at?" he shot. "And ah, wow, you're ugly. Dark did you notice that?"

"What, its eye? Yeah it's pretty creepy. Must have been injured or was sick or something," Dark agreed absentmindedly, still trying to figure out why the cat attacked him so ferociously but hadn't attacked Vaati at all. The black cat was pretty normal in appearance, except for the fact that it didn't have its left eye and its pupil was _red._ It was what you would describe a bloodshot eye, but a dozen times worse.

"Fffft. Just go away cat. Get yourself run over by a car or something. No one wants you here," Vaati scoffed.

There was a quiet, dejected, yet determined meow from somewhere near Vaati's feet, and then the pattering sounds of paws hitting the wet concrete of the sidewalk. Both Dark and Vaati's heads turned towards the sound of pattering paws that stopped just as it reached the street. Dark exchanged glances with Vaati. Then they looked back at the cat that was now sitting patiently in the middle of the street. It wasn't a very busy street at the moment, but given a few minutes there was bound to be a few cars driving by.

Curiosity overcame Dark. "Hey, come back here," he called. The cat tilted its head towards him, and then swished its tail in noncompliance. It then looked dead straight down the road for signs of incoming cars. Dark bit his cheek, confused, and then gave Vaati a light punch in the arm. "You try, dumbass."

"This is stupid," Vaati scowled. At the same time, he tried anyway. "Come back here," he drawled. When he saw the cat obey, much to his surprise, he became intrigued.

Next to him, Dark crossed his arms over his chest, annoyed. "What's up with this cat?"

Vaati grinned. "I wonder if it listens to everything I say," he mused aloud. "Cat, I order you to lick Dark's leg."

"What? Ew! Gross, stop that!" Dark shooed the cat away. It had reluctantly sat down next to Dark and gave him a small lick on the leg. Its ears were flat along its head, clearly enjoying Vaati's command just as much as Dark was.

A wicked smile passed Vaati's face. "Listen to anything, hmmm? Maybe you're not just a dumb cat after all."

"Fuck you, Vaati."

"Cat, attack Dark."

"Hey!" Dark backed away, throwing his hands out in front of him in defense. He expected a mad flurry of claws and teeth, but none of that greeted him. He slowly put his hands down away from his face, and peered over his arms. The one-eyed cat was still sitting next to Vaati, but it was standing in a half-crouch as though it couldn't decide whether or not it should really attack Dark or not. Conflicted, it finally pawed Vaati's leg in a way that looked very much as though it were saying 'not this time,' and then it walked towards Dark and sat down between him and Vaati. It continued to lick its paws indignantly while Vaati and Dark looked down at it once more in surprise.

Vaati threw his hands up in the air, exasperated. "And that's why I hate cats. I don't get them at all."

Meanwhile, Dark had knelt down so that his eyes were on the same level as the cat's, his hands shaking somewhat in semi-contained excitement. Something had been nagging him at the back of his head the moment he'd encountered the one-eyed cat, and the nagging had become more persistent the more he observed it. This cat seemed all too familiar to him somehow. Its attitude, its behavior, the fact that its eye was a creepy red. He didn't know how it could even be possible, but could he really say it was impossible? He wanted it to be true so badly. He was afraid he would be wrong. False hopes. He was scared to find out.

"… Bates?" he asked cautiously, reaching out slowly to the cat.

The little creature stopped licking its paws and looked up at Dark with its single red eye. It yawned, arching its back to stretch, and then walked over and gave a small bump on Dark's knee with its forehead.

"Bates! Buddy you're back!" Dark shouted excitedly, scooping the cat up off the ground and giving it a big hug. The cat hissed irritably at the sudden movement and gave Dark a few whacks across the face with its paws, ordering him to let go. 'Bates-cat' wiggled out of Dark's arms, spitting and hissing unhappily and took refuge behind Vaati. Dark didn't care, though, and was grinning from ear to ear. Vaati hadn't seen him so happy in a long time.

"You know it's really unlikely that the cat is your sentry eye, right?" Vaati said carefully. "I mean I can't think of a single way it would have magically turned into a cat." The cat still had its ears flat along its head, indicating disapproval, and its tail was swishing side to side in an aggravated manner.

"Your name is Bates," Dark announced to the cat, ignoring Vaati's comments. "Want to come inside, buddy? I'll sneak you past gramps so he won't find out."

"Oh he'll find out all right."

"And you can stay in Vaati's room."

"What."

The cat watched them for a while, and then slowly walked towards Dark who was kneeling by the door. It brushed against his leg in a friendly hello, cautiously backed away when Dark reached out to pet it, hissing a small warning not to touch it. It strutted towards Vaati and sat next to him, peering up at him. Vaati looked down.

It was all over.

Because staring up at him was the most adorable cat face ever. Even if said cat only had one eye.

Vaati sighed, storming inside. "Fine! Fine. Whatever, I don't care anymore."

And with that, there was a new member of the household; a furry, single-eyed cat going by the name of Bates.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

A woman attended a tired, resting man in a small lonely house in a quiet part of Guam. It was a sleepy Sunday morning, and the smell of toast and bacon wafted throughout the house. The man in the bed stirred when the woman threw open the shades, the sunlight streaming in and hitting his face.

Which was covered by a colorful bird mask.

Thistle groaned, shielding the sunlight from his eyes with his arm, squinting. He paused to wonder, then, why he was being bothered by the sunlight in a comfortable bed. What had happened? The last thing he remembered was that wretched Vaati sneering victoriously (and yet at the same time sadly?) with the Wishing Cap on his head. There was also a splitting headache that interfered with his thinking, and he felt like he could throw up any minute.

Why… why was he still alive?

He turned his head, finally noticing the woman had stopped to look at him in shock. Her hand was still on the window shades, frozen from when she'd first seen him move. The sunlight cast a warm glow on her soft skin. The sun. It felt so nice. The fluffy bed felt so nice. The woman… she looked nice too. Maybe he was actually dead and this was the afterlife. Why else would he be surrounded by so many nice things?

Without warning there was a woman on top of him embracing him tightly. He felt a few drops of water on his shoulder. Tears?

Then, it hit him. It was Thyme.

"_You're alive_," she cried.

I am? He thought to himself. Then, he stared at the ceiling flatly. Oh, well of course. If he'd died, they'd probably send him somewhere terrible instead. His mind wandered. He realized then that part of the reason why his mind felt so clouded was because all of his magical connections he'd had, from the individuals he'd taken control of to the thousands of other networks he'd established, all of them were gone. Silent. Dead. He thought some more. He tried a spell. Nothing. He tried to conjure ice. Not even a snowflake. _Oh…_

"Of course I'm alive," he replied hoarsely.

"But Vaati said… Vaati said you were dead because you're a wizzrobe and wizzrobes are magic and magic doesn't exi – "

"Calm down, everything's going to be okay," Thistle stopped Thyme who looked like she was on the verge of an anxiety attack. When she calmed down in a mix of happy excitement and worry and a whole ton of confusion, Thistle added as an aside, "I think."

Thyme rubbed her eyes with her arm, her face a mess but a tiny smile on her face. "I was so worried. I thought you were really dead because of that wish."

"You're always worrying," Thistle mentioned absentmindedly. When she frowned, upset, the wizzrobe laughed jokingly. "Ey, you're not sad anymore! I prefer that look over the other one, kehaha!"

Thyme crossed her arms, not amused and half wishing he'd go back to sleep. At the same time though, she was glad things were kind of back to normal. She thought he'd be depressed about the outcome, or at least in shock – he was taking this well, or at least trying his hardest not to let it affect him. She was also worried about another thing. Thistle either didn't remember, or he was acting like it wasn't a big deal. She was scared to find out. "Are you… are you mad at me?"

"You mean for betraying me by giving the cap to Vaati instead of me?" Thistle clarified rather bluntly. Thyme flinched. He was upset, wasn't he?

"Yes."

Thistle shrugged. "Mad? No. You probably thought you were helping me in your own reasoning, flawed though it may be. Upset? Well, yes, the outcome was rather upsetting. Upset at you specifically? No. People make mistakes, and it's my duty to forgive them. Upset at myself? Yes. I could have prevented that from even happening had I been more careful."

Thyme shrunk back a little. When Thistle was upset, he was rarely upset directly. He had a nasty habit of being passive aggressive to the point the other person would be weighed down by shame. It wasn't a very fun routine.

Taking the hint that he was actually pretty mad, Thyme made a move to leave. "Oh I should go check on breakfast."

"Wait."

Thistle's voice stopped her, and she looked over her shoulder, in half curiosity and half dread. What else did he want to say?

"You'd made your decision to help them," he said, the pout almost evident in his voice alone, "so why did you come back for me?"

Thyme sighed. "Just because I don't agree with what you're doing doesn't mean I want you dead."

"But now I'm fine. No need to stay with someone like me with no useful skill to speak of."

"I was worried about you. You were supposed to be dead."

"Or was I?" he mused, the usual craftiness in his voice returning. Thyme sat up on the edge of the bed while Thistle propped his hands on the back of his head, relaxing. "Vaati messed up, just like he always does I suppose. Not thinking things through, not going over all possible outcomes and consequences. Well, not that he would have known this important piece of knowledge." The wizzrobe continued to look at the ceiling quite cheerfully for a while, and he nodded to himself contentedly until the nods gradually slowed. The bright gleam in his eyes behind the mask dimmed, and what had briefly been full of life a few minutes ago became somber and grave. He'd been trying to force his usual character after all…

"Do you know…" he began quietly, no longer nodding in time to some soundless song. He was completely still on the bed. "Do you know what renegade wizzrobes are?" he asked.

"I remember Vaati mentioned you were one," Thyme reached out, placing a hand gently on his. For the first time in all the years she'd been with him, he sounded… scared. It frightened her to see him like this.

"Wizzrobes… they're men who lost their souls to a demon. Renegades are demons who lost their souls to a man, because the man was more terrible than the demon." Thistle chuckled, but it was forced and unnatural. "It's why they don't follow the Guild Laws. I was never compelled to follow them. I had my own agenda. I am…" he hesitated. His voice cracked, "actually I don't even know who I am anymore."

"You're Thistle," Thyme gave a reassuring squeeze on his arm.

"No, no I'm not. That's not who I am anymore."

"You are to me. You're still the same person."

"I'm not! I'm not a wizzrobe anymore!" Thistle sat up abruptly, wrenching his wrist away from Thyme stubbornly. His shoulders curled over, he peered outside the windows, without focus. "I'm just a man who lost everything. I'm… I don't even know if I remember who that man used to be."

Thyme watched the man who used to laugh at Life, so full of confidence and impervious to the trials it flung at him, finally break down in insecurity and fear. And who could blame him? Everything he had ever accomplished, everything that amounted to his identity had all been taken away from him in literally a second. Was there anything she could even do to make things better? It wasn't like she could say, _Hey, looks like we're in the same boat buddy. Like that part about not remembering who we used to be. Let's start a support group!_ Instead, she remained quiet, staring at the floor ashamed that she couldn't do anything to help.

She didn't know how much more time had passed when Thistle finally said something. She lifted her head, just barely catching the name he'd said.

"Corbin Robespierre." He squinted, almost like a grimace. He kept watching the clouds roll by outside the window. It was such a nice day out today. "I remember that name," he spoke more to himself now. "I'm not fond of it. That's not who I want to be and yet I'm," he took a deep breath as though it were difficult to continue, "scared that if I forget him I'll forget what it's like to… be human. I kept trying to find things. Find things about him. If I ever forgot, then I could just relearn what I was supposed to be…"

Thyme looked at him, almost in surprise. He had his head facing away from her, still staring out that window. Was he actually ashamed? Really, that's what he was worried about? How long had he thought about this? "Humanity isn't about what you are, Thistle. It's about what you decide to do. To me you'll always be Thistle. I'll always help you," she smiled kindly.

The wizzrobe flopped back onto the bed, still with his head facing away from her and at the window. "Even if you'll never remember who you used to be, because of me? I can never again help you regain your memories," he said stubbornly. "I ruined your life. I'm such a wonderful human being."

"If I cared about that I would have brought it up years ago. I don't care about that."

"Because you love me."

_What._

Thyme opened her mouth to retort, then closed it, then opened it again. Her voice was shaky and unsteady and her face was a deep shade of red. Thistle kept staring out the window as though he hadn't said anything surprising. "I… that's… that's such an audacious thing to say," she finally managed, flustered. "I care about you but – "

Thistle abruptly turned his head to look her in the eye, cutting her off. "I can't," he said bluntly, "I'm not capable of that."

Thyme fell silent. She didn't know what to say. Her mind had gone numb from the suddenness of it all, and she hadn't really prepared herself for this kind of conversation. Maybe some people would have felt anger, a 'why now after everything I've done for you?' kind of feeling, but she couldn't get herself to feel that way. How could she, though, when she really only wanted the best for him? Oh well. She didn't care. No, not at all. She'd always expected this anyway. She didn't even like him that way anyway. He'd gotten it all wrong. All wrong.

"Well, fine," she began coolly, "because I don't like you like that anyw-"

"Monsters don't have feelings," Thistle finished, interrupting her again.

Thyme stared at him for a minute. Then, she retorted, exasperated, "You're human Thistle!"

"And I'm a liar."

Thyme's expression softened, slowly, when she pieced together everything he meant from those four words. She'd been wrong. She thought she could understand him now. Thistle was looking up at the ceiling now, a little embarrassed. It was kind of sweet. "I know," she replied gently. She would have stayed for a few more minutes, but then she realized she'd left breakfast going cold out in the other room. She hadn't expected her detour to open the window shades would take this long. Thyme stood up to leave, but was stopped when Thistle's hands shot out and grabbed her wrist.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly, as though if he didn't say now he'd never have another chance, "for everything. Don't leave me." His grip loosened, timidly, scared that she wouldn't stay. That he was afraid she would leave him now that he could no longer do any of the things he used to be able to do. "Please."

Thyme looked over her shoulder, surprised. He was looking out the window again, his head turned away from her, but his fingers still around her wrist. She walked back with a small smile and sat back down on the edge of the bed. Breakfast could wait.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Second semester midterms were approaching, but the senior year students didn't seem to care, including Dark and Vaati. They were going to be done with school forever. In Vaati's case, it held a little more special meaning: he was never going to have to repeat high school ever again. It didn't matter that his past self didn't remember all of the times he'd reincarnated to take school again and again; this time, he was going to die and not wake up to another horrible four years of high school.

Vaati clicked through the web links, bored, as he sat in his room by himself trying to think of something to do. Did magic jade him into not being able to find something fun and interesting to do, or was this just a problem everyone dealt with at some point in their lives? Probably a little of both. It would have been less boring if everything wasn't so wet and slushy outside. They were supposed to worry about more mundane things now, apparently. Like whether or not they were going to find a real job or go to college. Dark had already applied to the state school, apparently, without ever telling Vaati. Or maybe he'd told him, but he'd been too busy and preoccupied trying to find a way to be free from the reincarnation curse. And now that he was free, he… didn't know what to do anymore. There were too many things he could do. Too many things he couldn't do. It was overwhelming.

Click. Click click. Click.

So now he was back to watching dumb YouTube videos and rotting his brain out reading all the crap that was posted on the internet. Bates the cat looked out from under the bed, the only place where Vaati had allowed him to stay, yawned, and then pattered away towards Dark's room. Although the cat seemed to like Vaati, it acted as though it were responsible for whatever Dark was doing. Therefore, thankfully, Vaati never really had to deal with it so much.

He didn't like cats. He'd had too many negative experiences with them, especially when he was a Minish. He only tolerated Bates because the damned cat listened to pretty much everything he said.

A fit of suppressed snickering, which from the sounds of things were becoming more difficult to suppress, caught Vaati's attention. It was coming from Dark's room, and he sounded way too happy for his own good. It was an evil kind of laugh, almost. As far as Vaati could tell, no one else besides him should ever be laughing like that.

He slowly pushed his chair away from his desk and peered outside his room. He quietly walked over to the other side of the hallway to see what Dark was up to. The kid was now laughing without restraint.

"AHahahAhAha…ha..haaa oh hi Vaati," Dark wheezed when he saw Vaati leaning against the doorframe with a look that demanded to know just what was so funny. Dark was sitting on his bed with Bates on his lap. He had his arms propped on top of Bates and was holding a Gameboy in his hands. He glanced down at the Gameboy, then looked up again at Vaati's face. He almost threw the machine across the room when he started choking on his laughter again.

"What's so hilarious?_!"_ Vaati narrowed his eyes. He had a sneaking suspicion that the game had something to do with him. That 'Legend of Zelda' series or whatever. He gave a dangerous glare to Dark who kept cracking up when he tried to play the game.

"Pfff ahahaha!" Dark continued to laugh, and then pushed Vaati away when he walked over to look at what game was being played.

"What did you just say?" Vaati snarled. "I didn't catch that."

"HolyshityoulooksostupidlycuteAHAHHA!" Dark giggle-snorted, and then finally tossed an open envelope at the increasingly angry former wind mage. Bates had run under the bed to safety but was looking out curiously to see what would happen.

Vaati snatched the envelope from the air. It was already opened, and it was addressed to Dark Petrov and Vaati Engst. "_To Whoever May See This First." _It was a weird way to address a letter. Vaati glanced over at Dark suspiciously and then pulled out the letter inside.

The first thing he noticed was that it was written on a series of blank Tarot cards. The second thing he noticed was the signature on the bottom of the last card in the deck.

_Thistle. _

Chills went down his spine. There was no way that wizzrobe should be alive. He'd made that wish. Did he fail? A million questions went around in Vaati's head as he read the name over and over again. He looked again at Dark having way too much fun with his game. "If this is some kind of bad joke, Dark," he began.

Dark grinned up at him. "Hey, I was surprised when I saw the name too. I mean, you killed him, right? Maybe it wasn't the best idea to assume he was dead and leave him with that Thyme person." He waved his game at the other teen. "But hey, I figured he can't be all that bad when he sent me this awesome game. I usually don't care about the story, but this one is pretty great."

Vaati scowled, and then furiously went back to reading the letter. What the hell was going on?

_Dearest Friends,_

_I apologize for my lack of communication with you. I was ill for some time, and then quite caught up in a disgusting amount of work. I've also had to do a bit of moving. Oh, nothing too far, so it wasn't that bad. I can still see the beach from here. I know it never occurred to you to contact me first since, well, you thought you had killed me and all, but it's okay. I won't hold it against you._

_I've recently taken up some honest work. I would have added 'honest work for a change,' but considering everything I've done all these countless years you can't even begin to fathom (I mean sure, Vaati, you've been around as long as I have but half the time you were sleepwalking), everything I've accomplished until now has been the product of honest hard work. _

_Anyway, no need to be bitter towards you, I suppose. Let bygones be bygones. Your wish was really uncreative and just simply a terrible idea, but one cannot blame the mentally challenged. Not everyone can have it all (like I almost did, by the way). _

_So yes, honest work. I'm trying my hand at marketing. It's actually kind of fun, surprisingly! It's not that hard for me to get people to buy Things They Don't Need._

_By now you're probably wondering what the little Gameboy cartridge is all about that I've included with this letter. It was actually something I had been working on with those wonderful folks over at Nintendo before we all had our exciting adventure. You know, just for the giggles. I gave them some material from REALLY old Hylian history; things not even the best historian will be able to find. The game is called The Minish Cap._

_I am sure Vaati will be pleased to know that he is the star of the game. I managed to get ahold of one of the first copies in production to give to you. The esteemed former sorcerer will doubtlessly appreciate the historical accuracy of his appearance as one of the most, should I say adorable, creatures to have ever existed. _

_Be sure to say hello to your fans. In costume, preferably. _

_Many cheers, _

_Thistle_

Vaati's hands shook in silent fury while Dark, snickering, kept replaying a certain scene over and over again, Vaati's squeaky digital chuckles on full volume from the Gameboy. The wind mage's face was tinted red, from a mix of horrified embarrassment and outright fury. It was damage to his reputation that he would never be able to fix.

"Holy Farore I can't get over how small and squeaky you were. Is this what you used to look li-"

A pillow went flying into Dark's face, knocking the game out of his hands.

Dark continued to laugh as Vaati stormed out of the room. "Well you gotta admit," he called over to the retreating Vaati's back, "that's one hell of a payback. Lord of all things small and cute," he added the last part, not audible enough for Vaati to hear. It wasn't clear whether Bates understood him, but the cat climbed out from under the bed and also left the room, with a somewhat offended air.

"I'm going to go sleep," Vaati muttered, and slammed the door shut.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In some different corner of the world, in some bustling city with a forest of silver skyscrapers, a dirty blond haired man looked down at the road below him while he waited for a voice on the other end of his phone. He looked like a businessman, from how he wore a suit that was a little too clean and well fitted to be considered casual. He tapped his finger against the window listlessly, either anxious by something on his mind, or impatient that the person he was calling wasn't picking up.

Just as the voice mail prompt came up and just as he was about to hang up the phone, a voice picked up on the other end, one with an extremely slight Japanese accent. "Hello? Hawk?"

"Kestrel!" Hawk, relieved, walked away from the window and sat down on one of the modern black couches. He picked up a letter on the coffee table nearby and held it up to his face as he continued talking. "I've been trying to get a hold of you. Did you see the letter?"

"Oh, sorry. Been busy with things. Like getting settled in a new job, clearing my name, all that. Figured you've been busy with the same, too."

"Yeah listen, so the letter – "

"But now I guess we're back to the humdrum of normal life. Talon is really done for, isn't it? After Dugal decided the main objective had been met he didn't have much else use for us and-"

"Kestrel!" Hawk snapped sharply, interrupting him. "You didn't read the letter yet, did you?"

There was a pause on the other end, and then a faint rustle of papers in the background. Then, there was an even fainter "You're shitting me."

Hawk stood up from his seat, and then moved towards the fireplace with his phone in one hand, and the letter in his other. He read the letter one last time, and then dropped it into the fireplace where it crumpled up in a ball of ashes. "Our flight's in a few days. Make sure you take care of things on your end until then," a small smile was on Hawk's face. It was the smile of someone who was dreading what was coming, but at the same time excited at the prospect of a new thrill. "Apparently we're not quite done yet."

Just before the paper completely burned away, the inked name at the bottom of the letter could be barely read. It had the letters: H. Dugal.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was a Saturday. Warm and sunny outside, practically the perfect Spring weather. He yawned, stretching. Bates had let him sleep in today, for once, instead of waking him up at a proper eight in the morning with persistent patting of the face with his paws for who knows what reason other than to annoy him. Instead, it sounded like Vaati was up and about already. Dark checked the time. Well… it _was_ past one in the afternoon already. Most people's days had already started a while ago.

He heard voices as he walked down the stairs. They seemed… well neither of them sounded too thrilled from the way their voices sounded annoyed and barbed. One of them he was sure was Vaati's voice. He could recognize that perpetually annoyed, condescending voice that always had a hint of 'better than thou' attitude with it. The other one he also recognized, and one he hadn't been expecting.

"Zelda? What are you doing here?" Dark asked, now completely awake as he approached the two… exes. Yup, it couldn't get any more awkward, especially since he was the middle man. The girl, who obviously wanted to leave the building, had been arguing with Vaati who had been blocking the way to the door. The pale haired boy was leaning against the door with his arms crossed over his chest, refusing to budge. "And what's going on here?"

Zelda glanced up, her nose scrunched in annoyance like there was a bitter taste in her mouth. "Well I wanted to talk to _you_, Dark, but _someone_ lied and said you weren't home. And _then_ refused to let me leave," she shot accusingly at Vaati who returned an equally sour glare.

Vaati scoffed. "Yeah? Well why don't you just call him or something. The only reason why you came here in person was to bother _me_."

"Are you listening to this nonsense, Dark?" She shook her head exasperatedly at Vaati. "Not everything has to do with you, mister," She turned back to Dark to explain. "I told him I couldn't find your number,"

"Do you believe that?" Vaati interjected.

"_because I broke my old phone and needed a new one_," Zelda added, barely keeping her patience.

Dark was starting to get a headache. He rolled his eyes, and sat himself down at one of the empty tables. "Hey, here's some news. I don't care." He ignored the both of them who looked miffed at his words. "Anyways, I'm guessing you wanted to know about what went on in England?"

Zelda looked relieved that the subject was changed, while Vaati appeared confused, offended, and shocked all at the same time.

"Yes, England," Zelda nodded.

"What? What about England?" Vaati snapped sharply. His head turned back and forth between Zelda and Dark, wanting answers. He seemed bothered by the fact that they had met without him knowing, and that they had been speaking to each other without him. "Wait, did something happen between you two…?" he asked, full of suspicion now.

"What the… no!" Zelda cried. "Argh, that's what was so annoying about you! You always assumed the worst about me!"

Dark had had enough. "Yo, Vaati," he called. He waited until Vaati looked at him. "Yep."

Vaati froze right as he was about to argue back at Zelda. His cheeks reddened, and he stared back unbelievingly at Dark, who had a smug smile on his face. Zelda also looked equally flustered as Vaati. The girl flinched when Dark pushed a chair towards her and indicated for her to sit down. "There, that shut him up. Now what did you want to know? Do you want to go somewhere else a little more," he glanced teasingly towards the infuriated Vaati, "private?"

Zelda didn't move a step, unsure of what to do. "I… well…"

Before she could decide, Vaati stormed angrily towards Dark and slammed his hands down on the table in front of him. "You two met in England and you _didn't tell me?_"

"I don't have to tell you everything," Dark pushed Vaati's hands away.

"Yeah well that's kind of important."

"That's kind of private."

"But-"

"I can meet whoever I want whenever I want without having you keep tabs on me!" Zelda finally interrupted. She took a few steps towards Vaati, her hands on her hips and looking just about fed up with him. "Did it ever, _ever, _occur to you that I'm a person with feelings, and not just your accessory? Huh?"

"Well maybe you could have told me that when we were going out and not months after the-"

"I did," she replied curtly. Vaati quieted. "But you never listened. You always just went off on your own to your palace or whatever and wouldn't let me talk to you. Remember that?"

"I…" He looked conflicted. Annoyance flashed across his face when a small voice in his head asked him if he'd actually done something like that. Guilt? No fucking way, that wasn't part of his vocabulary! At the same time, though, it kind of upset him that he'd been somewhat oblivious to things going around him back when he'd figured out his powers again. He'd been so focused on himself that he'd forgotten about his… well, _friends_ was kind of a weird word to him still. A part of him still shrunk back from that concept because it just made him all sorts of uncomfortable. But things had changed from back when he was still Vaati the Wind Mage, back before he'd had a couple thousand years being somebody else. The Avilux incident, the mess with Thistle, he couldn't really have done all of that alone, could he?

But of course he could have.

"I don't remember a thing," he stuck out his chin, to which Zelda threw her hands up in the air and made for the door angrily.

Just as she reached the door, a pale hand slammed across the doorframe so that she couldn't open it. Zelda looked up from beneath her bangs coldly. "I'm. Going."

"And no you're not," Vaati yawned lazily, still leaning against the frame and preventing her from leaving. He picked at his nails absentmindedly as Zelda continued to glare at him, "because I'm sorry."

There was a baffled pause. Zelda stared at him with mild disgust that was slowly dissipating into something more similar to shock. Her blue eyes widened, and for a moment she looked as though she were going to drop her pink computer bag onto the floor. "What?"

Vaati rolled his eyes. "Oh don't make me say it again."

Her eyes narrowed skeptically. "You're kidding, right?"

"I know it's so unbelievable that I of all people would _apologize_."

Dark, sitting a few feet away, wasn't convinced. However, he watched the exchange curiously, wondering what would happen. He grabbed a drink from the drink machine and continued to watch as though a show were playing in front of him.

Zelda also wasn't convinced. She crossed her arms over her chest and cocked her head challengingly. "And what are you actually sorry about?"

"Ugh I'm just… I'm sorry I made a mess of things! I'm an asshole and a terrible human being. Now can we get past that and have a normal conversation?" Now it was Vaati's turn to throw his hands up in the air.

There was a loud slurp over from where Dark was sitting, causing Vaati to cringe. It was way too similar to the way he'd first encountered Link at the burger place a year or so ago. Dark made the obnoxious sound for a few more seconds, and once he was sure he had both of their attention, he wiped his mouth on his sleeve. "I second the idea on having a normal conversation."

Zelda sighed heavily. Her shoulders slumped tiredly and she slowly walked over to the table where Dark was sitting and joined him. Still with a frown on her face, she turned to Vaati who was standing by the door expectantly for a response, "Do you want to start over?" she asked hesitantly. When she noticed Vaati's face perk up a little too hopefully for a split second, her expression hardened, "I mean as friends."

Maybe ever-so-slightly disappointed, though it was so subtle it was hard to catch, Vaati shrugged lazily and sat himself down in the last empty chair at the table. "Whatever." It was as close to a yes as he was going to give. "So Dark," Vaati rounded on the Link lookalike suddenly once he was at the table, "I hope you have some ideas on how to start a normal conversation in this kind of extremely awkward situation since you were so quick to jump on that idea."

"Uhhhhhmmmm," Dark looked down at his drink sheepishly. He bit down on the straw when Vaati kept glaring at him. It made him uncomfortable. He didn't like uncomfortable. Why did he have to feel uncomfortable anyway? "Okay, fine! Why don't you tell Zelda what kind of awful mess you got us all into the past couple of months? You're the one who started it!" he snapped back with a glare of his own.

"Yeah? Well it sounds like you got _her_ involved and I had nothing to do with that!" Vaati retorted.

"Actually I promised Dark not to get involved and I kept that promise," Zelda explained. "Which is part of the reason why I wanted to visit on my time off. Am I allowed to hear the whole story now, Dark?" She asked.

"Well if you want the whole story you better ask the instigator himself," Dark waved a hand towards Vaati.

"You think I know more than you, who was with Dugal's lackeys, who were probably more informed than I was?" Vaati snorted.

"Orrrr maybe we can take everyone's accounts together?" Zelda suggested. She took out her computer, then, and waited it for it to boot. The other two looked at her inquiringly, and they leaned in a little closer when she finished loading a word document. "I've actually been writing down everything that had happened with all of us during the Avilux incident, and I thought it would be, well, neat if we had the same thing with whatever you guys did this time."

"Wow this brings back memories," Dark said with a small reminiscent smile on his face.

"Yeah. Bad ones," Vaati added. Still there was a tiny hint of a smile that tugged the corners of his lips, trying to hide the fact that the story did interest him.

Zelda brought up a blank new document, despite some minor grumblings from the two boys who had been in the middle of reading what she had written. "So, are you two in?"


	29. Epilogue Part 2 - Endless Horizon

**Chapter 29: Epilogue Part 2 – Endless Horizon**

Peace. It had supposedly settled as a concept into his miserable life, but he could not imagine this was what people had in mind when they thought about 'peace.' Vaati had, moments before, blinded his eyes to some of the most terrible things to have ever graced the internet. He needed a few minutes - no, more like days, weeks, a whole month maybe? - to get over what he had seen.

Or rather, read.

Now he'd seen some pretty horrible things in his lifetime, including nightmarish creatures most people today have never had to set their eyes on. He'd read some pretty horrifying things, too, considering he'd been around for some time. Nothing, though, compared to what he had just read. He was lying face first on his bed at the moment, lying like a piece of plank board or someone with a hangover trying to pretend they weren't actually alive to feel the horrible headache. Bates the cat was sitting right in the middle of his back as though he hoped that would get Vaati to at least sit up to yell at him (anything that would get him acting like he usually did), but even that didn't work today.

He was done for.

"Hahahaha! Dude you have to read this one!"

Vaati grimaced at the all too gleeful screams of Dark dying of laughter a few rooms down. Vaati still didn't budge, but managed to make some kind of groaning noise that probably translated into something similar to "Shut up."

Roughly about an hour ago, Dark had discovered something terrible.

It was called… fanfiction.

More specifically, fanfiction about _him_, the former Sorcerer of Winds. It was mostly thanks to that awful game Thistle had sent them, The Minish Cap or something like that, and was now available to the public. Sure, he couldn't lie when he said it was just a tiny bit awesome that other people thought he was the best thing ever, but at the same time…

So many of those so-called stories made him want to bash his face into a wall.

"I'm still serious about re-enacting a bunch of these and selling the pictures for profit!" Dark shouted at him from his room through a fit of chokes and wheezes.

"Mmmfff."

"I mean most of these are about you and Link, who I can definitely pull off since I am practically him, making out. Easy money."

"Mmmfff!" Vaati sat up abruptly from where he was lying down, sending a startled Bates flying off his back. "The hell Dark do you even understand what humiliation means?"

"If it means instant profit, absolutely not."

"Ugh."

Dark scrolled down the list of stories on the fanfiction website, specifically filtering for Vaati's name. He had hit so much gold; he could have months of fun and entertainment reading about things people made up about the guy rooming just a few dozen steps away from him. People were so creative.

And some of these plots, man, the fucking plots. Some of them were so bad they actually ended up being pretty great by the end of it.

Take for example this story about Vaati losing all of his magic and having to run around Hyrule with his buddy Link. The story started with a, what was that term again, a Mary Sue? Yeah, one of those, who somehow made all-powerful Vaati into not-so-powerful unfriendly twat, and was only there just to get the story going. Just really bad story writing in general. Oh and he was pretty sure the two were supposed to romance each other at the end, for no reason that made any sense except the fact that they were the two main characters of the story. He hadn't read the whole thing, but he was getting the hang of picking up on these crazy story patterns for the garbage he read on here.

And by garbage he meant pure money.

Or this other story where Vaati meets Link at a McDonalds and they fly to Japan to save the world or some dumb shit like that….

…?

Wait.

Dark squinted at the screen, leaning forward a little as he read the page more carefully. This story sounded a little too familiar to what had really happened with the Avilux Incident a while ago.

And come to think of it, the author had called it _Avilux Ignis._

"Suuuspicious," he announced out loud as Bates slunked over to him. The cat jumped onto Dark's lap after Vaati had unceremoniously thrown him off the bed. "Check this out, Bates," Dark scratched the cat's head, "doesn't this sound familiar?"

The cat peered at the screen with Dark while the teen scrolled down the other list of stories. Another one caught his eye, this time called _Occult Ascendancy. _The plot for that one, too, sounded very, very familiar.

He clicked on the story and began to read the chapters, twenty nine in all. He flipped through it quickly, the events of the story so strikingly familiar. Even the conversations he'd had with various people were fairly accurate. A grin pulled across his face when he remembered the story sharing session they'd had with him, Vaati, and Zelda a while ago – the only person who could have done this was Zelda. If she hadn't written it, then she'd at least conspired with the author on it.

Sure enough, at the very bottom of the page, was a note from Zelda. Still with a grin on his face, he called out to Vaati one last time. "Someone you know wrote a message to you at the bottom of one of these," he snickered, "you are going to love this."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Cards again? You know that tarot reading is bogus."

Thistle looked up from his deck of cards as Thyme walked over and took a seat on the other side of the table, just like old times. They had moved in to a different house than the tiny, squished fortune shop they used to be in, but Thistle had somehow made it just as cluttered as before. There were weird objects and things most would call junk scattered everywhere in the room around them, and the table in the middle seemed like an island of temporary un-clutter. Although it would bother most people, Thyme found it comfortable in its own way. Thistle was still wearing his mask, perhaps out of habit, but lately (albeit on rare occasions) he could sometimes be seen walking around without it. "It's precisely _because_ it's bogus that I'm reading Tarot cards now," he gave the same reply as before, a grin on his face and the irony not lost on either of them.

"Oh?" Thyme played along.

Thistle chuckled, flipping the cards in his hands slowly. "Now that magic is truly obsolete thanks to our friend Vaati, what's there to worry about?"

He picked out two cards, the last ones he had picked from the previous fortune, and stared at them wistfully. "_The World_ and _Death_, hmm? So the fortune spoke true: to gain and lose everything, all at the same time." He put them back in the deck and shuffled it slowly as he leaned back in his chair.

Just as he put down to cards face down onto the table, the doorbell rang and the two of them perked up. Thistle gave a lazy nod towards Thyme, who had given him a questioning glance as though to ask him if he knew who it could be. "Could you get that for me? I'd actually invited someone over today."

Tilting her head briefly, questioningly, Thyme stood up from her seat and navigated her way across the room full of junk towards the door. When she opened the door, she immediately tensed when she recognized who it was. It was a man in an impeccably sharp suit that was accented with a purple tie. He walked himself in without waiting for Thyme to step aside. The only reason he didn't get very far was because all of the junk that was in the middle of the path towards the table proved to be a formidable obstacle.

"Hello, erm, Mr. … Thistle?"

"Just Thistle, Hal," Thistle called over cheerfully from behind the table.

"It's Dugal."

"Whatever you prefer. I was only trying to start things on friendly terms."

Thyme, who was used to the clutter by now, walked past Dugal curtly while the other man tried not to trip as he made his slow way over. "I am here only on business terms."

"Thistle, what is he doing here?" Thyme hissed between her teeth as soon as she got close enough to the former wizzrobe. She shot a cold glare when Dugal finally made it over and took a seat next to her, clearly making it known that she didn't appreciate his unexpected visit. After all, Dugal had every reason to hold a grudge against them and therefore was not someone they could trust. Even if he didn't have a grudge he wasn't someone anyone should trust.

"Oh please, Thyme, sit down. There's no animosity between us at all! Just two pleasant gentlemen trying to strike a mutually beneficial deal," a brief glint appeared in Thistle's eyes as he said the last few words.

Dugal, meanwhile was looking around the messy room in disgust. He kicked away a crumpled, discarded piece of paper away from where he was sitting, and then rested his hands in front of his face, steepled, with an expression that made him look like a hawk trying to decide which lizard to disembowel. "Yes, a deal. If," his eyes steeled behind his glasses, "you really have what I want."

"It was all his idea," Thistle explained happily while Thyme continued to watch Dugal like a cougar mother. "I still have some dirt on dozens of very important people from back when I was the standing authority on everything. We figured it would give us something to do when we're bored if we could, you know, blackmail them silly."

"As in profit," Dugal explained to Thyme.

"No, as in fun."

"… Yes, as in fun," Dugal corrected himself, in a flat tone of voice that sounded like 'fun' meant he was going to have to jump in a pool of acid.

"Thistle, are you _crazy?_!"

"No one is not crazy, dear Thyme."

"You're going to get yourself killed, you know that?" Thyme shouted angrily. She almost threw something at him. At both of them. "What if they send hit men after you?_!_"

"But I have hit men of my own now," Thistle countered, pointing proudly at Dugal who was staring at the ceiling, wondering if this was a bad idea for other reasons.

"You don't even have a good reason for doing this, do you?"

"I'm. Bored!"

"Augghhhh!" Thyme sunk down in her seat and buried her face in her hands, aggravated.

Mercifully, the buzz of a vibrating phone distracted everyone from the current conversation. With a frown, Dugal reached down into his pants pocket and took out his buzzing phone. "Excuse me," he stood up and walked a few feet away to take the call. The man's left eyebrow arched when the voice was from a person he never would have expected. "Mr. Engst."

"Hey! You have Thistle's contact information, don't you? Like a phone number or address?"

"Mr. Engst, why are you calling me about this?" Dugal frowned.

Vaati's words were rushed, like he was agitated. "I need to talk to him now. _Now_. Just give me a phone number – I know you have it! – and we'll never talk aga-"

Dugal took the phone away from his ear, covering the mouthpiece with his hand. With a slight grin on his face, but one so small like he was trying not to look _too_ amused, he wordlessly handed his phone over to Thistle.

"Eh?" The former wizzrobe looked at him questioningly.

"Just take it."

Inquisitively, he carefully took the phone from Dugal and put it by his ear. "Hello?"

There was a shocked pause from the other end. All Thistle could hear for a while was some slightly static blubbering. "Sounds like he drowned," Thistle announced.

The voice on the other end recovered. "Din's fire both of you are conspiring together now?" Vaati asked, hushed. His voice grew loud enough that the others in the room could hear him through the phone. "I knew it. I _knew it!"_

"Doubt it," Dugal said aside.

"I'm going to get you, Thistle! You ruined my life and – "

"You did that to yourself, Vaati. Come on now," Thistle quipped.

"- and I am going to end you for good this time and – "

"Oh, did you see all of those fans of yours? Their stories are pretty fantastic, I highly recommend them!"

Vaati's voice shook, then exploded. "_I am going to end you! AND YOU TOO DUGAL!"_ There was a click, and then silence. Thistle stared back at the now silent phone sadly, rubbing the side of his head while the ringing in his ears went away. Behind him, Dugal had his back turned to them with his shoulders shaking, trying to suppress laughter.

"I think," Thistle concluded after a few seconds, "he broke."

Thyme rolled her eyes. "Uh huh."

They all gathered around at the table again, now that all distractions were gone. Thistle played with the Tarot cards in his hands as he peered over at Dugal crookedly. "At any rate, you do have a plan, I assume? I have the information, you have the resources. I think fifty-fifty sounds about fair."

"Thistle…" Thyme groaned.

"It will depend on just what kind of information you really have access to."

"Oh, then I assure you I have quite a lot. Now my question is -"

"Thistle..." Thyme repeated.

"- how reliable are you?"

"That's not really a question I appreciate you asking, Mr. … Sir."

"_Thistle," _Thyme tapped him on the hand, finally getting his attention. Her lips drooped downwards disapprovingly. "You're not going to stop, are you," her question came out as a statement.

Thistle laughed. "Of course not!" Then, he perked up like he'd remembered to do something, and flipped over the two cards he had placed on the table earlier. "Actually before we talk about logistics, how about I finish this fortune?"

The first two cards lay flat on the table. They were identical, each with a picture of a robed man holding some kind of wand. The only difference was that they were flipped from each other, so that one was right side up and the other was upside down.

"Keke, ohh, this is going to be another good one, I can tell," Thistle cackled. "_The Magician_ and _The Reversed Magician._ Thyme, dear, you remember those two, don't you?"

But Thyme wasn't really looking at the cards anymore. Instead, she had her head in her hands tiredly. She gave a heavy sigh, defeated. "Here we go again…"

* * *

From Zelda to Vaati: If you've seen this story, you've seen this website. You must be so proud.

fleets: If you are feeling unhappy and cheated out of time you spent reading the previous twenty-something chapters at this moment, then I am _so sorry I failed you_. I cannot go back and rewrite this ending: it's like once seen, you can't unsee. I also wouldn't know how to add more things to make the execution any better, so if I failed you, then there is not much I can do at this point except to apologize profusely.

And this is why endings make me so freaking nervous.

I guess this will be the last time I do a final-chapter-comments? Yeah, so, this is actually one of my few stories where THERE ARE NO CASUALTIES. At least, casualties of the characters we actually care about... I wanted a happy ending for a change. Or as close to happy as I am ever going to get. I had the whole renegade wizzrobe idea since back when I was writing Rend, and I'm happy I was finally able to throw that out there, at the very end of OA. What makes them renegades? Cause they're not actually wizzrobes :P So he's not going to die just yet!

As for the last bit on Zelda, I didn't want to forget about her either. I figured it was a disservice if she wasn't at least mentioned one more time since she played a fairly big role in this story's predecessor. And she helped figure out where Thistle was, so yeah, she's kinda important.

I also _did_ say I was writing ThistlexThyme? _That is probably as fluffy as I will EVER GET. _Now watch me break that disclaimer and write something fluffier, but we will see.

Did I have too much fun referencing fanfiction dot net? Yes. Yes I did. This place is both terrible and awesome at the same time and I love it.

On a final note, this is really the end. The End. One of the reasons why it must end here (even though it seems like I have more stories to tell) is because Vaati has changed too much over the course of this series. I assume that is the reason why most of you are even here; because of him. He's not the sorcerer we used to know, the one from FS, FSA, and TMC. I mean, I guess that can be considered a good thing, since you don't want stagnant, unchanging characters in a story, but at the same time I feel he is becoming more and more unrecognizable as Vaati. He grew up. The End. He'll do more growing up, probably, and learn a lesson or two after this story, but for the most part he is no longer the asshat from TMC that I used to write about. I can no longer write about him in this story. Vaati is effectively dead. Vaati is no longer Vaati.

If you've made it THIS far, congratulations, because you have stuck with me since 2010. It is now 2013. Yeah, isn't that crazy? Over 100,000 words later, this story is finally complete, and I could not have done it without everyone's super duper awesome support. I know, I know, that sounds like such an empty phrase, like another 'thing to say at the end,' but I really mean it! What amazes me even more, for those of you who made it this far and are reading these words right now, is the fact that you guys stuck with this even though this story practically got taken over by a large cast of OCs. It's difficult to even call this fanfiction anymore, since I didn't write a whole lot about the LoZ aspect except for tidbits here and there. And yet some of you _still_ stuck by. I cannot thank you guys enough for that awesome, awesome support. I also loved getting to talk to some of you (mostly through reviews and review responses on the chapter pages) about the story and LoZ in general, and also those silent readers who communicated with something kind of like Morse code through the visitor hit counts.

I don't know how I can even write a thank you/goodbye that will measure up to everything you've done for this story. My plan is to continue writing and finishing WIR (When I Return), which is a different genre than what I have been writing these past few years (Romance, opposed to Adventure/General). I hope to still see some of you around, and if not, then I hope you enjoyed what I had to offer with the Legend 2012/3 stories :)

If you still want to talk to me afterwards, please don't hesitate to either contact me via PM on this website or go post something on my wall (or message me) at my deviantart account. I admit I do take a while to respond sometimes, but I try my best to get back to replies :)


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